


The Bureau Files: Series 5

by Catsafari



Series: The Bureau Files [6]
Category: Neko no Ongaeshi | The Cat Returns
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:01:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 113,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23242183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catsafari/pseuds/Catsafari
Summary: Haru Yoshioka is back with the Bureau (again), and consequences from her year away are finally catching up with them. But even without the Sanctuary, the Bureau still has its purpose, and there are plenty of cases to solve. Warning: Here there be dragons.
Relationships: Baron Humbert von Gikkingen/Yoshioka Haru
Series: The Bureau Files [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/317858
Comments: 107
Kudos: 84





	1. Episode 1: One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing (Part 1)

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Hello, it is I, finally back with the (hopefully much-awaited) Series 5 of The Bureau Files! By now you should know the drill – 7 cases, each 2 episodes long (save for Case 6, which is a 3-parter) – which will be posted on a weekly basis every Saturday. 
> 
> Once again, thank you so much for being so patient with me. I know it's been a long wait, but hopefully it will have been worth it. For those of you stuck inside with the current outbreak of covid19, I hope I can add to the pile of things to enjoy in this difficult time. (And for those of you still at work, like moi, and possibly busier than ever, may this be a welcome relief from the chaos.) 
> 
> And so, without no more ado, here's Series 5 of The Bureau Files. Enjoy!
> 
> Cat.

_The Bureau Files: Series 5_

**ooOoo**

**Episode 1: One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing (Part 1)**

Haru Yoshioka stood before the old brick wall and willed an archway in its place.

She had found herself drawn to the forgotten little alleyway with its unremarkable little wall more times than she cared to count in the last few months, and each time the result was exactly the same. The wall was still a wall, however much she wished otherwise. And it really was unremarkable, save for the one detail that it had once been an archway to another world entirely.

It didn't look like that was about to change.

She groaned and rounded on the dead end.

"Open, you stupid wall! Open sesame! Abracadabra!" Still nothing. She paused, and added, " _Mellon_!"

The wall didn't change.

"Yeah, well, the _Lord of the Rings_ thing was a long shot anyway," she muttered, and turned away.

Perhaps she should have given up already. The others had. Or, at least, they'd turned their attention onto other things. Was that the same thing? When she had explained to Baron what she had done – how she had shown the Sanctuary the chaos it would cause if it allowed itself to collapse – he theorised that the Sanctuary, being made to save people, had sealed itself off from all other worlds to avoid that same fate.

It would be closed off from all other worlds, he told her. It would be impossible to find.

 _Like me?_ she had asked, and he'd given no answer to that.

And yet, here she was again, pacing at the wall that was just a wall and hoping to find an archway instead. What was the definition of insanity? Wasn't it doing the same thing and hoping for different results? If so, she was well past that mark.

She turned and headed back in the direction of home.

Maybe it was a sign of madness, she thought. But it was a sign of hope too. She could live with that.

ooOoo

The world had moved on without her.

Of course it had. It had been a year; things happen in a year.

Hiromi had gotten a new flatmate. She'd had to – she couldn't pay the bills alone. There was slight irony in the way Hiromi had become as elusive round the flat in her year-long search for Haru as Haru had been while with the Bureau. And, if her new flatmate thought it odd the way Hiromi had been forever vanishing at a moment's notice, she probably put it down to grief. The way Hiromi told it, she didn't worry too much what her new flatmate thought.

Michael had hired another shop assistant. Again, out of necessity, but that hadn't lessened the guilt in his voice. He'd thought she was dead, he told her. He hadn't been able to hold out hope for her like the others had, he'd said.

She hadn't held it against him. Nor Hiromi for her new flatmate. In a way, it was a comfort. Whatever happened to her, whatever went wrong, her friends would continue. Life would continue, as so often was its wont.

ooOoo

Her mother had been the most difficult.

What possible reason could Haru give to explain her absence? What lie could she tell to smooth her mother's fears? Was there a lie big or kind enough to calm a mother whose daughter had vanished off the face of the earth for a year?

In the end, she did the only thing she could think of.

She gave the truth.

It wasn't simple, of course. Telling anyone that magic existed and that their daughter had been throwing herself from one reckless world to the other was never going to be. She had sat her mother down in the kitchen, Toto and Baron on the table between them, and gently and calmly told the chaos that had been the last few years of her life.

It was difficult to deny magic when faced with a talking gargoyle and statuette.

She missed out a few details though. Her father, for one. Things were complicated enough without weighing her mother down with the news that her father was alive – alive, possibly insane, and missing. And Muta. She missed out Muta.

The latter had been by request.

Her mother had raged when the truth was revealed.

First it had been at Haru. For being so reckless. For being so stupid. For hiding the truth.

And then it had turned to Toto and Baron for allowing her daughter, her _child_ , to run alongside them in a world that nearly killed her. For not protecting her. For losing her.

Even after Haru managed to soothe her mother, she saw the damage those accusations did to her companions. She had known them for too long to not know that they still held some semblance of guilt for her previous predicament, and Naoko's words had only compounded that. The way they saw it, she knew, they were guilty for losing her. Nothing she said could undo that.

ooOoo

And the Bureau.

The Bureau was… the Bureau. Only now, without its Sanctuary. Without its Refuge. Homeless.

There were some losses that were felt more keenly than others. Toto was restless; he had taken to sitting atop the Yoshioka roof, but his eyes never stopped moving. The rest of the Bureau were in the house and so he would stand guard – protecting, like he always did, like he had been made to – and yet the house was so much more vulnerable than the self-contained world of the Sanctuary had been. He didn't say anything, but Haru could sense it.

He had lost her once before. He wasn't going to lose anyone else.

Muta was quiet around the house. He never spoke when Naoko was around, but otherwise, he seemed almost normal. He still lingered at the Crossroads. He still begged food off strangers. He was still the same, grumpy cat as always. If there were any worries about his lifespan dramatically shortening now he was beyond the Sanctuary's influence, he never mentioned them. Haru watched him as the months passed, but he didn't seem to age significantly. Time had yet to catch up with him.

And then there was Baron.

He had said he loved her.

She had known long before then, of course. There are a million different ways to show love, and she wasn't blind to the looks, the smiles, the self-sacrificing protectiveness and mutual trust. She wasn't immune to the way her own heart betrayed her either.

But still, he had said it.

And then just before Christmas…

She blushed and tried not to think about it too much. Even though she really, really wanted to.

Things were strange now. Well. Strang _er_. Without the Sanctuary's size-altering magic or the privacy of another world, it wasn't so easy to spend the casual time with one another that she had taken for granted. And she missed it. She missed the way that in their mundane moments in the Bureau – the chatting, the research, the cups of tea – it could almost feel ordinary. She missed how, in those brief, fleeting moments, they weren't a living cat figurine and the daughter of a magician, but just two people.

How strange; that in all the magic and mystery of the last few years, she should fall in love with someone over cups of tea.

And a whole lot of running and monsters too, but mostly cups of tea.

ooOoo

"It's not all bad." Haru swung the stick idly at her side as they walked along the outskirts of town. Here, cityscape yielded to forest, broken only by the occasionally building squirming its way between the trees and the rare car trundling along the half-forgotten road.

Hiromi hurried alongside her, looking none too convinced. "Oh, _sure_. Between the maniac who tried to take my head and the ghost monster that tried to eat us on our holidays, I can tell the Bureau's a laugh a minute."

"You remember Oz?"

"You try forgetting losing your head. And that's not taking into account all the near-death experiences I had just trying to get you back." Too late, Hiromi noticed Haru flinch. "Hey, none of that was your fault. Baron said it was your mind just subconsciously trying to protect you."

"You shouldn't have had to put your life on the line to save mine," Haru said.

"Kinda did. Best friends, remember?" Hiromi tilted her head Haru's way, smirking until she prompted a small smile from the other woman. "And before you start feeling guilty about anything, it was my decision to help."

Haru's smile widened a fraction. "That sounds like a similar argument I once made."

"Let me guess: to the Bureau?"

"To Baron, more specifically." Haru hesitated, and made a face. "Of course, shortly after that, I did end up getting lost between dimensions, so I suppose I ended up putting my money where my mouth was. Still, my life. My decisions. My mistakes." Haru felt a stillness fall across her friend, and she glanced over to Hiromi as they passed under the _Torii_ gate. "Hey. What is it?"

Hiromi slowed, and then halted. "Baron."

A few steps above Hiromi, Haru stopped also. "Yeah?" When Hiromi didn't add anything, Haru took the conversation into her own hands. "Is this about him losing me? Because we've already covered this – I don't blame him for what happened, and as the person who was lost, I think I get to decide who's to blame. Like I said, my life. My mistakes."

"No, it's not that…"

"Oh." Haru waited, perplexed, and even more so as she stared at her friend. "Hiromi… are you… _blushing_?"

"Oh, shut up."

"My God, you're not blushing because of him, are you? I mean, I know he's smooth and all, but I was hoping that the great Hiromi could resist his charms. Trust me; he's awful at responding to confessions. Usually he ends up jumping off the nearest building. Worryingly so, actually. I think he might be allergic…"

Hiromi reddened further and batted furiously at Haru. "Oh, shut up. I'm blushing for _you_ , you idiot! How on Earth am I meant to ask my best friend if she's in love with some foot-high cat doll?"

Haru dropped her grin. "Oh."

"Yes: _Oh_."

"I had hoped you hadn't noticed."

"I wish I hadn't."

The two women stared at each other, both waiting for the other to add something. In the end, Haru said, "In my defence, there's usually less of a height difference when we're in the Sanctuary. Or other worlds."

"Oh, great, so that just leaves solving the figurine and cat part of the equation."

"And immortal," Haru added.

Hiromi stared, and Haru suspected she was just doing it to drive her point home. "Immortal?"

"Yeah."

"How old is he?"

Haru bit her lip. "Well, he was created during the Second World War–"

"Haru!"

"–so about… eighty?" she finished. She grinned weakly. "The heart wants what the heart wants?"

"The heart wants a foot-high, immortal, eighty-year-old cat doll?"

"He is really charming," Haru offered. "And kind. And brave. And it's not as if he ages like humans do…" She trailed off and tried to reclaim some sanity in the conversation with, "How long have you known?"

"You? About a month. Him? Since about halfway through trying to save you. You know, at first I was a little wary…" Haru gave her a look, and Hiromi grinned and amended it with, "Okay, very wary. But come on, Haru; some freaky cat guy was obviously in love with you and I had no idea if you felt the same way back or if he was some sort of unwanted cat suitor."

Haru grinned back, and decided against saying that it wouldn't have been the first time if so. "Oh, he's wanted."

"Well, I see that _now_."

Another pause.

"I can't convince you to give up the Bureau, can I?"

"Sorry. Even if I wasn't madly in love with Baron, I still wouldn't. It's… It's amazing, Hiromi. The places I go, the things I see…"

"The monsters and killers, yes."

"It's more than that." Now continuing up the ancient stone steps, they came into view of the Shinto shrine, and Haru reclaimed another stick from the forest's edge. "Hiromi, I've been to Wonderland and Oz and Never Never Land. Granted, most of those places had things that wanted to eat me, but… it's magic. I've been in paintings and books; I've met kitsunes and sirens, and there's so much more out there..."

"And?" Hiromi gently prompted.

"And… I've helped. Hiromi, I've helped so many people over the last few years. And, true, it hasn't always worked out, and there have been people we've… we've failed, but… it's what I want to do. It's all I've ever wanted to do with my life." She snorted softly. "I suppose I am just a busybody who likes to stick her nose in other people's business."

"You're only realising that now?"

Haru laughed, and suddenly the tension lifted and they were back to their normal selves. "Hey, you want to see one of the best perks of the Bureau?" she asked, her eyes glinting conspiringly. "The dog-sitting duty." She grabbed Hiromi's sleeve and dragged her the last few steps into the courtyard of the shrine. "Mamoru!"

Hiromi's jaw dropped when a huge lion-dog statue rippled to life and came bounding towards them.

Haru threw the stick and watched with satisfaction as the komainu went running to fetch it. "Isn't he lovely?"

"I want to pet it."

"You can, if you want."

"Fantastic."

Several belly rubs later, Hiromi glanced up from the giant lion-dog and smirked at Haru.

"What?" she asked immediately. "What have you just thought?"

"It's an immortal, catlike statue," Hiromi whispered. "Should Baron be worried about competition?"

Haru made a face. "I don't crush on _every_ Creation I meet, Hiromi. That'd be weird." She decided against mentioning her apparent relationships in the parallel worlds. There was no need to fuel _that_ particular fire.

"So it's only Creations in dapper suits? Got it."

"And with that comment, I know you're almost over this Baron issue."

"Not exactly. But it's far too much fun to pass up on."

"Fabulous."

"But I have to admit, he does have one dapper suit."

ooOoo

"Mum, it's fine." Haru swung the phone to her other hand while she rummaged through her bag for her purse. She gave an apologetic smile to the woman at the desk. "Look, we're just at the museum; no biggie."

She eventually located her purse and ran a card over the machine, mouthing, "Sorry" as the lady passed her ticket across.

" _Haru, you vanish for a year, and then return with crazy stories about monsters and magic–_ "

"Crazy, _true_ stories," Haru added. She wasn't sure if that made it better or worse.

"– _and not expect me to worry?_ " her mother finished. " _From the sound of things, you've been putting your life in danger for the past few years even before you vanished – it's a wonder nothing happened to you sooner._ "

This topic again. Haru paused to the side of the museum's entrance, which opened up to a large, high-ceiling room. There was a conspicuous gap in the middle where an exhibit was lacking, and Haru noted taped barriers around the space. "I know. Trust me, I know. I'm sorry."

" _What are you doing at the museum anyway? Is this more magic business?_ "

"I – no. No, Mum, it's just, you know, visiting the museum. Like ordinary people do. Michael mentioned that they'd brought in a new dinosaur exhibit since… um, well, in the last year, and it'd be a nice day out." Haru grimaced at her friend and passed the phone across. "Here. Michael, convince my mother that I'm not doing undercover Bureau work at our totally-ordinary and non-magical outing to a museum."

Michael didn't look too pleased, but he forced on extra cheer as he raised the phone to his ear. "Hey, Mrs Yoshioka."

Haru couldn't hear her mother's exact response, but she heard the general tone of it and saw Michael wince at the onslaught. When it waned, he started again. "Yes, I… I know. But, in this case, we really are just visiting the museum. I don't do the Bureau stuff."

Her mother's response was significantly calmer this time around.

"Yes, we'll be back long before it gets dark. Thank you. Have a good afternoon." He flipped the phone shut and looked to Haru. "What was that for?"

"She'll believe you over me."

"Because I'm not her daughter who lied to her for years on end."

Haru made a face at that. "Or maybe it's because you 'don't do the Bureau stuff' and that means you're probably not dragging me into magic and mayhem. Anyway, where's the new dinosaur?"

Michael sighed and pointed to the hall's empty centre. "Over there."

Haru paused.

"Did they, um, did they invent invisible dinosaurs in the last year?"

Michael paced over to the empty exhibit. Haru followed, and now it was clear that the barrier was police tape.

"No," he said. "Just missing ones."

Haru took stock of the intended space. It was mostly just a raised platform at the moment, no taller than a foot or so, but the width and breadth of the plinth – and the ensuing barrier – indicated something that could have been 100 feet. "How can you lose something that size?" she whispered. She wasn't quite sure why she was whispering, except that they were at the edge of a crime scene and sound carried easily in the expansive hall. "I mean, it must have been huge."

"Diplodocus," Michael said, reading from one of the stands set before it. "105 feet, a replica cast from the skeleton at Carnagie Museum of National History, lent from the National Science Museum in Spain."

"And missing."

"And missing," he agreed. He sighed. "Sorry for bringing you out here to see a dinosaur that's not here–"

"It's a hundred feet long," Haru said. "How on earth could you lose it? How could you _steal_ it?" she said, louder than intended, and she gained a few strange looks from other visitors. A mother snorted, and wheeled away her five-year-old daughter who was far more interested in her toy dinosaur anyway. "It's a dinosaur," she continued, undaunted, "not a Ford Fiesta; you can't just wheel it out. The front doors wouldn't even squeeze it out, I don't…"

"You're really getting hung up on this, aren't you?"

"I'm horrified that someone would do this, but I'm… a little impressed as well? I mean, if you can manage to steal and hide something like that, you almost deserve to keep it."

"Almost."

Haru gave a breathy laugh and turned away. "Okay, so even if the super-duper new dino has gone walkies, we still have a museum to explore. I'm up for a bit of totally-ordinary, non-magical outing."

"I know you mean the 'non-magical' part in a literal sense, but I still feel slightly insulted that you keep saying that."

"Duly noted and filed." She turned to leave, but a spark of something almost electrical flickered up her arm as her hand brushed the edge of the exhibit.

Magic.

She halted, and the look on her face must have given away her thoughts, because Michael's own expression faltered.

"What is it?"

"You know what? I take back the non-magical part."

"Haru…"

"I'll just call the Bureau and let them know that something off is happening here."

"It might be nothing–"

"A hundred-foot dinosaur goes missing right where there's magic, and that counts as 'nothing'? Michael, I appreciate the concern, but this is what the Bureau does." She offered a weak grin, and raised the phone to her ear. Her mother was out, so the only ones to answer it would be the Bureau, if they were in. In all her time at the Bureau, she was beginning to wish that Baron had refined a communication spell, but all his notes had vanished with the Sanctuary. The phone rang and eventually ran on to voicemail. "Hey, this is Haru, if you're in, pick up the phone–"

She hadn't got any further than that when there was the click of the other line being picked up.

"– _sure that's even how it works?_ " she heard through the other end. Muta.

" _Haru explained it all quite clearly,_ " said someone else. Baron. " _When it's removed from the cradle, it should automatically respond–_ "

"I hear you loud and clear, guys."

She was rewarded with the sound of the landline phone being dropped. There was some mild muttering gradually growing louder until Baron had retrieved the phone. Technology wasn't the Bureau's forte. " _Haru? Can you hear me?_ "

"Yep."

" _Is everything okay? Are you hurt? What's happening?_ "

"I'm fine. Everything's fine," Haru was quick to assure. Aside, she muttered, "Could everyone stop being so worried all the time?" Louder, she continued with, "Well, I say everything's fine, but we've got one missing dinosaur and remnant magic."

There was a long pause at the other end, and Haru could only imagine the looks being exchanged. She decided not to elaborate, not just yet anyway.

Eventually, Baron was the first one to chance a reply. " _Miss Haru, the last dinosaur died out–_ "

"At the museum, Baron. I'm at the museum and one of the exhibits has vanished."

" _That… makes considerably more sense_."

"Eh, well you'd think it would until you realise that a hundred-foot diplosaurus–"

"Diplodocus," Michael amended.

"That a hundred-foot _diplodocus_ has somehow vanished without anyone seeing a thing."

" _And you think magic is involved_."

"If you want to suggest another alternative to the facts at hand, be my guest."

" _Could be students,_ " Muta said. " _What? Students do all kinds of pranks._ "

"He does actually have a valid point," Michael said.

"Alright fine. Magic and students are the two possibilities we have at hand. All I'm saying is, it's worth taking a look, right?"

The rest of the Bureau considered this. Haru could hear the edge of muttered conversation, but couldn't quite make out the words. Then, " _We'll drop by_ ," Baron said. " _Meet us outside the museum in ten minutes?_ "

"Sure." Haru offered that same apologetic smile to Michael as she flipped her phone closed. "Sorry, Michael, but if there's anything the Bureau can do to help, then they need to be here."

"Yeah. I get it."

"I'll be back in a bit," she promised, and vanished back outside. She grinned to the woman at the desk, waving her ticket and saying, "Left my camera in the car," as she passed.

Once she had been joined by the Bureau, she quickly found a flaw in her plan.

"I can't smuggle Muta in." They were standing along the wide front of the museum, which was decorated with several large, faux columns which were perfect to hide her strange companions. Haru waved her bag for emphasis. "Baron, definitely, and Toto in a pinch, but there's no way I can hide Muta too."

"Should've brought a bigger bag then, Chicky."

"Wow, Muta. Thanks for the advice."

"Maybe if we can–"

"Eh, it's fine," Muta said, verbally steamrolling over Baron. "I'll just search for clues out here."

"You mean, search for scraps," Toto said.

"If some stray humans want to feed me, who am I to refuse?"

"Another alternative would be to wait until the museum has closed and investigate then," Baron said.

"Uh-uh," Haru vetoed. "No way. I've had enough of spooky museums to last me a lifetime."

"Technically speaking," Toto said, "the art gallery wasn't a museum."

"I don't care; we were almost killed by a creepy Creation girl. We're doing this in the daytime."

Baron nodded. "Understandable. Do you think you can fit Toto and me into your bag?"

"Just about. Just don't, you know, sneeze or anything." Haru knelt down and opened her satchel to allow the Creations to climb inside. She gave Muta one last pat on the head as she straightened.

"You got a plan, Chicky?"

Haru scoffed. "Please. A plan would indicate that we had any idea what was going on. You just keep an eye out for anything suspicious."

"So… yell if I see any hundred-foot dinosaurs wandering about? Got it."

"Something like that." She grinned and returned to the museum, waving at the receptionist again who only motioned for her to pass with a tired nod. Haru hadn't really thought this through, but there really wouldn't be any subtle way to bring Baron or Toto out into the open, at least without raising a few questions, so she gently propped her bag down against the corner of the barricade and hoped they could sense the magic from there. She dropped her jacket on top of it anyway, to hide their heads if they decided to take a peek, and leant against the barricade to pretend to examine one of the exhibits lining the hall.

Michael joined her, and offered a hardboiled sweet. "Got everything sorted?" he asked hopefully.

"Waiting for the verdict," she replied.

"What did they do before they had a tame human to sneak them in to places like this?"

"I appreciate you calling me tame as if they have any control over what I do," Haru said.

"Okay, but still…"

"A lot of breaking and entering, I believe." Haru popped the sweet into her mouth, and subconsciously fiddled with the wrapper. "Well, entering. Breaking usually only happens when a case goes south." She paused, and then added, "So, I guess entering and breaking would be more accurate." She stared at the exhibit she was feigning interest in, which happened to be an old taxidermy display of birds.

Michael didn't miss the look of distain cross her features. "Not a fan?"

"Of taxidermy? Not particularly."

"I suppose it is kind of morbid–"

"Well, sure, there's that." She continued to twist the sweet wrapper between her fingers. "I also nearly got killed by one."

"Not to put a damper on that very valid reason, but you seem to get nearly killed by a lot of things."

"There are many things I'm no longer a fan of. Taxidermy is one of them." Her jacket rustled at her feet and she hastily retrieved it before anyone else could notice her animated bag. She slung it over one shoulder and murmured, "So? Conclusion?"

There was a slight kerfuffle from her bag as the occupants righted themselves after being picked up. Baron's top hat, followed by his ears and eyes, peeked out of the top of the bag. "It's magic."

"See? I told you–"

"Creation magic."

Haru nearly dropped the bag. "Creation…? Are you telling me a _Creation_ stole the dinosaur?"

"Not exactly," Toto said. "Try the dinosaur _is_ a Creation."

"But… but the dinosaur wasn't made; it's a skeleton. It's not even like the mananana… mananang…"

"Manananggal," Baron and Toto chorused.

"That," Haru said. "It's not something made up from other previously-living parts – it's a corpse. Creations can't be corpses, otherwise we'd have zombies..." She trailed off with dawning horror. "Don't tell me zombies are real and they're actually Creations."

"Zombies aren't Creations."

"Good." Haru paused. "You didn't tell me zombies aren't real."

"And that's a discussion for another day," Toto prompted.

"I'm not sure I follow what's going on," Michael interrupted, "and, frankly, I'm too scared to ask about the zombies, but the dinosaur isn't a real skeleton, if that helps?" He motioned to the information stand he had read from earlier. "It's a plaster-cast replica. It's not an actual dinosaur fossil."

Toto's beak just about appeared from the depths of her bag to give a short nod. "Indeed. The Creation magic is raw; it recently awoke, and yet I suspect the replica itself is far older."

"About a hundred years," Michael said.

"How do you–?" Haru started.

"I actually read the signs."

"So we have a hundred-year-old replica," Baron summarised, "that has only become a Creation in the last few days."

"So it's an almost Creation," Haru said.

"It _was_ an almost Creation."

"Okay, so it _was_ an almost Creation," she amended. "We've had almost Creations waking up in the past, but that was because there was a sudden expulsion of Creation magic flying around anyway." She hesitated. "You don't think this is because of the Sanctuary, do you? In one of the parallel worlds I visited…"

"No. The Sanctuary sealed itself off to prevent that from happening," Toto interjected. "No, what I believe we've come across is someone with a lot of imagination and heart pouring their interest into our missing dinosaur to the point that they have bridged the gap between almost Creation and Creation."

"Someone else finished the job the artisan started."

"Indeed."

"Like who?"

"Possibly another artisan. Or just someone with a lot of imagination – a child, for instance."

Haru made a face and shifted her grip on her bag. "So, what I'm understanding here – and correct me if I'm wrong – is we're still no closer to finding a missing, hundred-foot dinosaur."

"Not… necessarily. It might be still in the museum. If we find any traces of more Creation magic in the area, it might lead us to it."

Haru was about to point out that the curators or police would probably have noticed if the dinosaur had only walked off into the Deep Sea corridor, but realised that firstly, they had no leads apart from this and, secondly, that it would enable her to still look round the museum. She smiled to Michael. "I think we're up for a little museum exploration."

ooOoo

"This is still a little weird," Michael muttered.

"What is?" Haru was beginning to wish she'd brought some water with her. She had once been so organised, but that had all been scattered after the events of last year. It would be a while before she had stocked up again on her usual assortment of first aid and light and suchlike.

Anyway, her own bag was mostly occupied with Creations at the moment.

Michael, who hadn't been prepared for their museum visit being hijacked by a Bureau case, had nonetheless actually brought drinks, but not necessarily the first aid or torch. He passed across a bottle of tap water to Haru.

"I feel like we're being chaperoned by the Bureau," he answered.

"They're just keeping an eye out for any remnant Creation magic," Haru said.

There came a whisper of, "Left here," from the recesses of her bag.

"Okay," she admitted. "It is a little weird." Regardless, she took the desired left turning and found herself in a room coloured a muted blue, which was probably due to the glass tanks holding preserved fish findings. The liquid looked a little too blue to be simply water, and she didn't peer too closely.

She collapsed down onto one of the rare benches, only vaguely noting that the other side was occupied by the same mother she'd spotted earlier. Her daughter, of about five, sat in one corner with the same dinosaur toy from before.

Michael sat down beside Haru and retrieved the water bottle, swapping it round and offering another hardboiled sweet. "Tired?"

Haru groaned for an answer, and took the proffered sweet. "I really need to get back into shape after last year." She stared at the exhibit in front of her, which was a tank with a creature professing to be a deep-sea squid, but not a giant squid, which unsettled her because it still looked uncomfortably large. Her attention drifted to the workings of the other visitor on the bench and then to the sketchbook she had in hand.

The woman flipped through the earlier pages to check something, and Haru caught sight of a sketch of a very distinctive long-necked dinosaur skeleton.

Before she could fully compute what she was doing, Haru was turning in her seat and staring over the woman's shoulder. "That's really good."

The woman, not unreasonably, jolted, and her head shot up to stare at the intrusion. "Excuse you?"

"That picture – the one of the missing dinosaur? It's really good." Haru was regretting the hardboiled sweet now, but it was too late to undo that. She shoved the sweet into a corner of her mouth and hoped she wouldn't accidentally swallow it while talking. "You must have been working quite hard on that one, huh?"

The woman glanced across the room. Michael was doing his best to be very interested in the information on the not-giant squid and pretend he wasn't affiliated with the crazy young woman who had started talking to complete strangers. Haru could sense his British sensibilities oozing off the scale.

"Well, I suppose I did," the artist said eventually. Evidently sensing that Haru wasn't dangerous, just a little mad, she smiled belatedly at the praise. "It took several visits to get that one right – I'm hoping to use it as reference for a larger piece. I'm just lucky I finished it before it was stolen… and that I have such a patient niece," she added, nodding to the girl who was moving her toy dinosaur around with all the purpose a five-year-old in the middle of an epic imaginary world.

The artist dug out a business card from her bulky canvas bag and handed Haru a business card. "Ursula Takayama," she introduced. "Look up some of my works online, if you have time. I've actually had a few pieces included in a temporary exhibition that is opening at the Guertena Art Gallery tomorrow."

Haru tried not to make a face, but she suspected she didn't entirely succeed. She plastered a smile on after the bitter memory had passed. "You're a professional artist? That's amazing! I always think it's great how artists seem to bring paper and pencil to life."

"That's what we try to do." Ursula returned her attention to the skeletal angler fish she was sketching out. "The diplodocus was such an iconic creature that I knew I had to get it right. That's why it took me so long to finish the initial sketch. It's a bummer about it vanishing, isn't it?"

"Yeah. It's crazy to think anyone could sneak it out without being noticed."

"Tell me about it."

"How do you think they managed it?"

"I dunno. Perhaps they carried out the individual pieces?" Ursula's nose was two inches from the paper, and little flecks of charcoal were dotting her cheeks like dark freckles. "And… I'm done." She sat back, brushing her wild brown hair out of her face, and tucking a few stray strands back into the ponytail. "Well, it's been… interesting talking, but I have some art to finish and an adorable niece to return to her mother. Have a good day."

"You too." Haru watched the artist and her niece gather their things and head out, leaving just Haru and Michael and the faint smell of charcoal. She opened her bag and let the two Creations lean out. "So?" she prompted. "Do you think she could be the one?"

"There was definite Creation magic loose," Toto said, "but it's… strange."

"She had a drawing of the diplodocus in her sketchbook – do you think it's possible she accidentally trapped the replica in her book?"

"I've never heard of it happening, personally, but Creation magic can react in all sorts of ways, depending on the artisan at hand," Baron replied.

"Do you think she knows?" Haru asked.

"It's hard to tell," Baron said. "However, there is one way to find out if she has the Creation."

"Oh no."

"We need to get that sketchbook."

**ooOoo**

**Teaser:** _**"We've just set a dinosaur loose in modern-day Japan." "Not one of the Bureau's shiniest moments, true." / "Gist," Toto said. "It's a Gist Creation." / "This isn't your world – talking animals and living dolls and now, this… dinosaur ghost – these aren't problems you should have to face. Why does it have to be you?" / The air rushed out of her in one pained gasp and she watched as one giant skeletal foot came down. / "Toto," Baron said, and distantly he noted that his voice had gone deathly calm, "get me to Haru."** _


	2. Episode 2: One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing (Part 2)

_The Bureau Files: Series 5_

**ooOoo**

**Episode 2: One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing (Part 2)**

"I don't like this."

Haru stood outside the Guertena Art Gallery and fought the urge to turn around and walk away.

From outside, it all looked very nice. There was a garden with a few statues and some obligatory fountains, and people milled about in the way that people do when it's an unusually nice day in early spring. The inside wasn't too bad either, really – as long as freaky headless statues and abstract art that made you feel something, you just weren't sure _what_ , were your kind of thing.

It hadn't really been Haru's thing before she'd first entered the Guertena Art Gallery.

It definitely wasn't her thing afterwards.

"I don't like this," she repeated, just for good measure.

"So you said," Toto replied.

"Jus' for the record, I ain't so keen on this either."

"You're not allowed in," Haru reminded Muta.

"Oh. Right. Then I see nothin' wrong with this plan."

"This isn't a plan. This is a disaster on helter-skelter skates," she said. She glanced down to Baron, who was occupying her bag. "Baron, you can't be serious about this."

Baron looked faintly insulted. "Out of the myriad of improbably situations and hastily-formed plans we've faced over the years, _this_ is the one you object to?"

"I'm not a thief! My skills include world-hopping and staying alive – not pickpocketing."

"Technically, you'd be nicking from her bag, not her–"

"Not now, Muta!" Haru ran a hand along her face and released a defeated groan. "Fine. _Fine_ , we're doing this, but I am saying this now, this isn't a plan. This is improvising, at best, and if I get in trouble for this, you'll never hear the end of it." She huffed and started towards the gallery doors. "If I see a single statue move, I'm outta here," she muttered.

She swung her bag to one side – today, Baron was the sole occupant, save for water and a – and found herself halted by a security guard. He pointed to a sign. "Sorry, miss, but no large bags allowed."

"It's not that large–"

"You can leave it in a designated bag area and collect it at the end of your visit," he continued, unconcerned with what was probably a common complaint. "Now, do you want to enter or not?"

Haru quickly calculated how long it would take to get home and back to exchange a smaller bag, and concluded that time would not be on her side. She shrugged it off her shoulder, already counting off the ways that Baron's plan was falling apart. "It's a secure room, right?"

"As secure as can be."

It took a moment for her brain to convince her hands to release the bag. "Fine," she said eventually. She offered a smile that she hoped didn't look as fake as it felt. "It's just an art gallery, after all. Don't really need my bag for that."

ooOoo

On the edge of the Guertena Art Gallery gardens, just beyond the wandering eyes of passers-by, sat a cat and a crow. When several minutes passed and anything of note failed to happen, the cat rose to its paws with a sigh, and stretched.

"Well, I don't hear the sounds of a dinosaur rampage. Things must be going better than usual."

Toto broke his careful watch of the gallery doors to scowl at Muta. "And where do you think you're going, puddingbrain?"

Muta finished his stretch and settled his fur back into place with a loose shake as he walked. "Anywhere I like. And right now, that's away from you."

"We agreed we'd meet up here after Baron and Haru had investigated the art gallery."

"And I'll do just that," Muta retorted. "But I reckon I have some time before they're back, and lunch is calling." He was forced to stop when Toto landed in front of him. "Move, beaky–"

"We stick to the plan."

"When have we ever done that? Better yet: When has it ever _worked_?"

"That's not the point–"

"Then what _is_ the point? It's just a flippin' art gallery."

"One with a shady Creation past and possibly a dinosaur. We don't know what we're dealing with here."

"Yeah, we do. You just said it yourself – one shady history and one dinosaur. Maybe. Jury's still out on that last one. Anyway, what's your problem? We've jumped into worse situations before."

"But always together," Toto said.

Muta snorted. "No, we haven't."

"Never without a near calamity." Toto was silent for a moment, and for once Muta didn't take the chance to hijack the conversation. Several long heartbeats passed before Toto continued. "In Moreau's world, we were split up and Haru was nearly irreversibly changed in a half-human beast. From his time alone in CAP's world, Baron returned back scarred. Even the last time we were here, we were separated and our ignorance almost cost Baron his life. I could go on."

"What I'm really hearing from this is that Baron and Chicky can't go one case without disaster," Muta said. "Sounds about normal. And _relax_. We always survive, don't we?"

"This is serious!" Toto snapped. "Do you think we'll always be that lucky? One of these days our luck is going to run out – it almost did with Haru – and there'll be consequences even we can't undo. I can't…" Toto shook his head abruptly and started into the air. "Forget it."

ooOoo

In his adventures with the Bureau, Baron had been in many worse places. Prisons, pirate ships, bellies of beasts, literal bellies of beasts, haunted restaurants… But still, nothing felt quite as undignified as being assigned to the baggage room.

Once the door locked shut after the security guard, Baron carefully clambered out of Haru's bag. The room was dark, so Baron summoned a small sphere of light which confirmed that, yes, he was in a glorified cupboard. He exhaled and settled back down on top of Haru's bag. There were pros to being a foot-high cat figurine. But easy access to public places was not one of them.

After some time – during which he had paced the room twice and comprised a mental list of how things could go further wrong from here – the door opened once again. Baron dimmed his light and ducked behind a satchel to watch the security guard dump a bulky orange knapsack in the corner. A familiar sketchbook peeked out of the top, between rolls of canvas.

It wasn't going to be that easy, surely?

ooOoo

It was quiet inside the gallery. People drifted from exhibition to exhibition in hushed tones reserved for museums, libraries, and holy places, faint echoes reverberating off the off-white walls. Much of the gallery was what Haru recalled from her last, less-than-pleasant experience, save for one of the rooms being converted into a temporary exhibition for local artists. A few people lingered before the artworks, but no Ursula.

This plan was getting shakier by the minute.

She was just wondering whether to proclaim this plan a complete bust when she turned the corner and came into sight of a large, fantastical painting featuring none other than their missing dinosaur. She stopped in her tracks.

"Bingo."

She approached the artwork, glancing quickly around to establish she was alone before brushing a hand over the glass separating them. She felt no tinge of telltale magic, but that didn't mean anything. Her abilities lay in sensing portal magic, not Creation magic, after all.

"Hello?" she whispered. "Are you alive?"

The painting didn't move.

"I'm here to help. I've come with Creations – just like you – who know what you're going through. If you're stuck or scared, we can help, I promise."

"They say art speaks to people, but I never thought I'd see anyone take it quite so literally."

Haru jumped, and jolted back from the painting. Standing at the corner junction was the artist herself, dressed in much the same way as she'd been at the museum. But no sign of the wanted sketchbook.

"Ursula! Hi, I was just… I mean–"

"Although it is one of my better pieces, even if I do say so myself." The woman grinned and winked, adding, "Which I do."

Haru grinned back, relieved at the option to veer the conversation onto less embarrassing topics. "It's certainly unique," she agreed. "What… what prompted you to choose a dinosaur skeleton as the centrepiece?"

"Oh, I know, right?" Ursula laughed. "Usually I like to work with living subjects – there's just something about trying to capture the movement of something on a motionless medium – but with this…" She shook her head. "Well, it once moved, right? Does that count?"

"So would you say you wanted to see it move again?" Haru asked, and she was rewarded with a strange look from Ursula for her troubles.

"That's a rather odd way of putting it."

"Is it true?"

"Yes."

ooOoo

"Kitty!"

Muta jolted up from where he lay in the weak spring sun. He was rolling onto his paws when a pair of chubby little arms pulled him into a hug, and he only just managed to curb the cuss in time. Through his own sputtering, he could hear what sounded suspiciously like crow laughter from above.

"Piggy kitty!"

"Why is that everyone's first response?" Muta grumbled under his breath. He squirmed in the kid's grip, but found himself tightly held. Something in the kid's hand dug into his side. It felt hard and spiky and, most notably, uncomfortable.

"Emi, you can't go round hugging strange cats."

What was hopefully the responsible adult arrived – the girl's mother, probably – and set to releasing her daughter's robust grip. "Not all cats are like Jiji, Emi," the woman admonished.

Muta was freed, and he dropped back onto all four paws with a solid splat. He turned to make a face at the kid, when he recognised her as the niece of the artist they had come to check out.

And in her hands was a little toy dinosaur skeleton.

ooOoo

Baron pulled himself up to the knapsack and hauled the sketchbook out. Almost larger than he was, he was forced to set it down on the floor and flip through each sheet individually. Pages of rough work and reference material – birds, trees, cabins – adorned the book, until finally he found the one he was looking for.

The diplodocus.

He stepped back at first, afraid his own Creation magic would stir the creature back into life, and waited.

Several seconds passed.

More seconds passed.

A minute went by, and now Baron was beginning to suspect that he was staring at just an ordinary picture. He approached the book and ran a gloved hand over the sketch. Nothing. He removed the glove and tried again, in the vain hope that somehow he had missed it the first time. Still nothing.

The Creation wasn't here.

ooOoo

"But isn't that the idea of art? To create something that seems to be more than the sum of its parts?" Ursula continued. "To give the illusion of life to something that is nothing more than paint and canvas?"

_The illusion of life._

Something Haru took a moment to register as doubt trickled into her system. True, she didn't have Creation magic, but surely she should have felt _something_ if the painting was one. Maybe it was still trapped in the sketchbook. But that didn't feel right either. Wouldn't the artist herself know that there was something… different about this painting, even if she didn't know of Creations?

"Well, thank you for coming today – if you have any other questions, feel free to find me later–"

"Creations."

Ursula stopped, midway in turning to go. "What?"

"I mean," Haru backtracked, reddening at her outburst, "that's what I would call them. If art was capable of coming alive – truly alive – because their artist put all their heart and soul into making them. That's what I think they'd be called. Creations."

Ursula's gaze flickered across the room, either as if trying to discern exactly which patch of air Haru had just plucked that line of conversation from. Then realisation dawned on the artist, and she grinned. "That's quite the imagination you've got there." The smile widened. "Is this a story idea? Are you a writer? Is that what this is all about?"

Haru grinned back, but she could feel the blush spreading to her ears. "You got me," she said. "I'm a writer. Just… doing writer research." Her ears were burning now, almost painfully so.

Ursula turned back to Haru, her face moved in thought but no sign of recognition from the description. "I believe that art can feel alive to those who view it," she said. "Everyone takes something different away from it, so in that way, it's alive." She grinned. "I suppose that's why some people take to talking to the artwork."

Haru smiled weakly back, reddening a little. "Sometimes, I find art talks back," she said and, hiding the disappointment, she left.

It looked like they were back to square one.

ooOoo

"The Creation isn't in her sketchbook."

Haru sat down on the corner steps to the gallery's entrance and set the bag on her lap. She could just about see Baron in the recesses of it. "I figured," she said. "Ursula doesn't seem to know anything about Creations, and I didn't get a sense of the actual painting with the diplo… the dinosaur being alive either." She rubbed at her earlobes, which still felt almost scalding to the touch. "I can't believe we chased all this way after the wrong lead. The Creation's probably long gone now."

"The trail may have gone cold, but I doubt such a Creation will stay unnoticed for long," Baron replied. "If we keep our ears to the ground, sooner or later we're bound to hear something. Speaking of ears…" Baron tilted his head to one side, "is there something amiss with yours?"

Haru immediately dropped her hands away. The dismissive laugh she tried for fell flat on her lips. "Nothing but good old-fashioned embarrassment. It's fine."

"Did something happen in the gallery?"

"It's nothing," Haru repeated. She started to tug on her ears again, and then dropped her hands when she realised she was doing it. "Okay, so I may have tried to casually bring up Creations to Ursula but… kind of failed in the casual department."

Baron took a moment to mentally translate this. Then, "Verbal missteps are not an uncommon occurrence, Haru. I'm sure Miss Ursula did not hold anything against you for it."

"That's not the point."

"Then please help me understand what the point is."

Haru looked at him for a long moment, and then away. "Nothing," she muttered. "It's just been a weird year, that's all."

Baron looked like he was about to pursue the issue further when a wail rose through the air. A moment later, Muta skidded past them. "Move!" he snapped. He sounded like he had something in his mouth. "Now!"

Haru grabbed her bag – including Baron – and jumped after the fleeing cat. "Muta, what's going on? What did you do?"

"Who thayth I've done anythin'?"

There was a shout from across the gallery garden and Haru briefly glimpsed a young woman slow to a halt at the garden's edge, a bereft child held in her arms.

"Did you attack a child?"

"Wha'? No!"

They rounded a corner and Haru stopped behind a set of dumpsters lining an alley. "Then what the heck was all that about?"

Muta spat out what he'd been holding, and then looked to Haru with far more smugness than the situation called for. "You're welcome."

There was a clatter as Toto joined them, landing on the dumpster lid. "Congratulations. Just when I thought you couldn't sink any lower, you stole a plastic toy from a kid. What's next? Candy from a baby?"

"You stole from a kid?" Haru echoed.

Baron hauled himself to the top of Haru's bag and spared Muta the best withering glance he could give after being dishevelled by the bag ride. "Really, Muta. How could you?"

Muta huffed, and nudged the toy. "You'd think I get a little more gratitude for having found your missing dinosaur, thanks."

Haru squatted down and tentatively picked up the toy with the tips of her fingers. There was still some saliva on it. "Are…? Are you sure? Because it definitely looks like you just stole a cheap toy from a child."

"Look, I know what a plastic toy smells like. That – smells off. Plus the kid is the niece of the artist you were all up in arms about. I'm telling ya, that's the Creation we've been looking for."

Haru eyed Muta, and then doubtfully passed it across to Baron. "What do you think? Any magic on it?"

As Baron's glove brushed the dinosaur's foot, a wave of magic – so thick that even Haru felt it – rippled out from the toy. A moment passed. Two.

"Okay, so what did you just do?" Haru whispered.

"It's awake," Baron said.

Haru gingerly reclaimed the toy, cradling it in her fingers as she waited for it to squirm to life. It felt cool and quiet though; much the same – saliva and all – as before. She looked to Baron. "Look, I know I'm still relatively new to this whole business, but aren't Creations meant to… you know… move?"

There was a crash outside, followed by a scream. And then several more screams.

Haru closed her eyes and sighed. "Please tell me that has nothing to do with us."

Toto hopped along the dumpster to peer into the street. "How does a lie sound?"

"Make it convincing." Despite the gnawing knowledge that she was going to regret it, Haru edged over to the alley's opening and followed Toto's gaze. She nearly dropped her bag. "Just so we're clear," she said, "we're all seeing a giant ghostly dinosaur, right?"

"Yeah."

"It would appear so."

"Yes."

Haru inhaled slowly. She'd seen the empty space for the dinosaur back in the museum, and even then the size of the intended exhibit had been imposing. But there was nothing to impress upon just how large a 100-foot dinosaur was quite like seeing it occupy a high street. It was skeletal and – to the luck of downtown – incorporeal, its long, spiny tail swaying through whole apartments with nary a brick out of place.

"We've just set a dinosaur loose in modern-day Japan," Haru said.

"This isn't one of the Bureau's shiniest moments, true," Baron admitted.

"A dinosaur. In the 21st Century."

"So it would seem."

Haru gestured fruitlessly towards the creature in question, words beyond her for several seconds. Then, "What, _the flying flip_ , are we going to do?"

"Get a really big net?" Muta offered.

"We still have the toy," Haru continued, rattling the miniature in one hand, while its larger counterpart ambled around a street corner and out of view. "How do we still have the toy if the Creation is out there making headlines?"

"Gist," Toto said. "It's a Gist Creation."

To Haru's surprise, Muta groaned, and even Baron looked a little uneasy. Her heart sank. "What's a Gist?"

"A pain, that's what," Muta supplied.

"Imaginary friends," Toto amended.

"Half-Creations," said Baron.

"I might need a little more than that."

Baron seemed to consider this, and Haru wasn't quite sure what to make of how he obviously had to think before proceeding. Eventually, he settled on, "You probably had a favourite stuffed animal as a child, correct?"

Haru raised both eyebrows and tried to bite back the somewhat embarrassed smile. "I had a giant patchwork turtle that I tried to take everywhere with me when I was five."

"Not dissimilar to most children," Toto noted.

"It was huge," Haru said. "I mean, we're talking _can't-fit-through-a-door_ big. I'm pretty sure it was actually meant to be a bean bag…" She looked back to Baron. "What of it?"

"And this turtle probably had a name and, in your mind, a personality? A story."

"Sure. But don't most kids do that with their stuffed animals?"

"Yes. And in many cases, it will produce what is known as a Gist. Generally, these are mass-produced toys with no Creation potential, but one that a child pours enough imagination and personality into them that they become halfway real."

Haru stared. "Are you telling me that all my stuffed animals are alive?" A beat passed. "They've been boxed up at the top of my cupboard for the past ten years."

"They're not alive," Toto reassured her. "Gists aren't full Creations, after all."

"They're not?"

"They're a variation of Creation," Baron explained, "but one that is fuelled entirely by the child's belief. They usually can't exist outside the child's mind, and are more like an extension of the child's soul than an independent being."

"And, unlike Creations, Gists' physical forms remain inanimate," Toto said. "Like the toy – or, to be more accurate – the shrunken diplodocus cast we still have. Instead, their soul becomes an intangible presence that, normally, only the child can see."

"Okay, but we _all_ saw the giant dinosaur ghost walking through town, right?" Haru asked. "And, judging by the commotion earlier, I'm guessing this isn't just a Bureau-Sanctuary side effect."

Baron shook his head. "This Gist was formed from an individually-crafted cast so it was possibly an almost Creation to begin with. That would probably explain its irregular trait."

"Let's just hope that's the only thing irregular about it," Muta grunted.

" _Only_?" Haru echoed. "What do you mean by that? What else can they do?"

Muta grinned with the bitterness of experience. "Let's just say, Chicky, that there's a reason creepy dolls have a reputation for being haunted."

"Oh." Suddenly she was very aware of the toy she still held. She gingerly settled it inside her bag. "Have I mentioned how much I hate ghosts?"

"Not before now, but we'll take note," Baron said. With a pull of his cane, he swung up onto the bins and onto Toto's back. "But don't worry; we're dealing with a Gist, not ghosts."

Haru glanced to Muta and judged that, by his expression, there wasn't much difference.

ooOoo

"It's a _dinosaur_. How can it possibly have vanished in five minutes?" Haru flicked through her phone as she walked, tracking through the social media updates as news of the dinosaur spread. "Sure, there's a couple of videos of it by the gallery, but they all seem to peter out once it gets past the first street. Perhaps we should have followed when it first appeared…"

"Yeah, good idea," Muta snorted. "Let's just confront the huge glowing dinosaur that everyone's filming and hope no one notices the talking animals or cat in a top hat."

"Alright, rein in the sarcasm. I guess I'm just not used to our cases being quite so out in the open as this." Haru huffed and refreshed the page again. "It's no good. All I can find is a variation of the same video. It turns the corner and – bam – no one even seems to see it down the next street." She replayed the video, and then abruptly halted. "Oh no…"

There was a clatter of talons hitting alley bins, and Haru dashed down the side street to where Toto and Baron had landed. "There's no sign of it," Baron said. "It shouldn't have been able to get so far at the pace it was setting–"

"Look at this." Haru shoved the phone in the Creations' direction. "That's the dinosaur after it passed the gallery." She played the video, paused it, and then zoomed in. Just visible was a mop of short, brown hair on the creature's back. "It has the kid. The dinosaur has the kid."

Baron looked at the image for a long moment, his expression suddenly unreadable. "The child should be in no danger–"

" _Should_?"

"She's the one who brought it to life. Its soul is joined to hers; it'll respond to her wishes." Baron's gaze glanced away from her face, and it took Haru a moment to register that he had noted her empty hands. "Haru, do you still have the physical form of the Gist?"

Haru withdrew the toy – or, as Toto had noted, the shrunken form of the dinosaur cast. "You mean this?"

Baron nodded. "We will need to return to your home to fetch a tracking crystal, but once that is done, it should be easy to locate our missing Gist – and its passenger."

ooOoo

Haru tapped an uneasy beat with the bottom of her mug, the remnants of tea dregs swilling at the base. Updates from social media had now added 'kidnapper' onto the impossible dinosaur's headlines as discovery of the disappeared child spread, and Haru was having to do everything in her power not to scroll meticulously through it each time.

Her mother dominated most of the tiny kitchen table with miniature patches of quilt, her own tea mug long empty. Eventually she looked up to her daughter and, more notably, the incessant tapping. "Are you sure the gallery visit went okay?"

"Yeah. Fine. Why?"

Naoko pointedly looked to Haru's cup. "Oh, no reason."

Haru saw this, and made an effort to halt her impatient tick. Did tracking spells always take this long? Perhaps it took longer when out of the Sanctuary. Or perhaps something had gone wrong. Perhaps the tracking crystals weren't working, or the toy didn't have the right type of magic–

Naoko's own phone beeped, saving Haru from having to look innocent for much longer as Naoko's attention turned to that instead.

Baron had said that the girl would be okay – that the Gist wouldn't harm the person it was linked to – but there were exceptions to every rule. And Muta had mentioned the haunted doll thing–

"Haru," her mother said slowly, "you wouldn't happen to know anything about a mysterious dinosaur roaming the streets, would you?"

"What?"

"Apparently there's some commotion after a giant dinosaur was seen walking through town." Naoko lowered her phone. "Dinosaurs. In the 21st Century."

"That's what I said!"

Naoko didn't break her gaze. "Haru…"

"It's not our doing." Haru paused, and decided not to elaborate on Muta stealing it, or Baron's magic possibly waking it. "Look, some kid has brought it to life through their imagination, and we're just trying to fix things before they get any worse."

"Is that why you went to the gallery today?"

Haru grimaced. "To be honest, Guertena's style isn't really my thing."

"And the museum?"

"That actually was coincidental."

"And what are you doing back home, really?"

Haru winced. "The rest of the Bureau are working on a tracking spell to find the dinosaur," she admitted.

Naoko sighed, and Haru felt like she had let her mother down somehow. "Haru, I wish you wouldn't do this–"

"I didn't go looking for this. We found it, and now we're trying to help."

"But why you? This isn't your world – talking animals and living dolls and now, this… dinosaur ghost – these aren't problems you should have to face. Why does it have to be you?"

Haru almost laughed then. Not her world? When her father had come from another world entirely and created Baron? When his meddling had left her with cat-speaking abilities and his best friend a cat for life? When her own heritage gave her the power to open dormant portals? When she had spent a year caught in worlds of her own creation?

Sometimes she wasn't sure which world had sway on her more.

Instead she shook her head and said, "It has to be someone."

"But why you?"

"Why _not_ me?" Haru asked back.

"It's dangerous–"

"So are a lot of jobs! What if I wanted to be in the police, or work as a firefighter, or in the army? Would you still have a problem?"

"Haru, you vanished for a _year_ ," Naoko stressed. "And the only explanation you've been able to give me is that you were trapped between worlds. That's not normal. At least an ordinary job would have rules and regulations – things to keep you safe…"

"The Bureau–"

"The Bureau is the reason you're doing this in the first place! Look, Haru, I know what it's like to be young. You think you're invincible, but you're not. You're just _human_."

Haru's hand ran up along her arm that was scarred with too many close shaves. She tugged at her sleeve. "You think I don't know that?" she asked quietly. Her fingers curled tightly around the fabric, her knuckles going white.

"I think sometimes you forget."

Haru shook her head, words lingering on her tongue. At the sound of movement upstairs, the moment passed and she leapt to her feet. "I have to go. I'll be careful – I promise."

"As careful as you were when you vanished?"

At her mother's words, Haru hesitated at the kitchen door. "I'll be careful," was all she could say, and she shut the door behind her. Toto landed on the stairway banister with Baron. Muta was still noisily descending the stairs.

Toto tilted his head to one side, his beady eyes not missing anything. "Everything alright, Haru?"

She ignored the question and grabbed her jacket. "What took you so long? I was beginning to worry the tracking spell wasn't gonna work."

"Apologies," Baron said. "There seems to be a strain of foreign magic in the mix. As such, the tracking spell was being drawn in two directions."

"Foreign magic? What does that mean?"

Muta jumped down to the last step with a huff. "Someone else's magic, Chicky. What'cha think it meant?"

"I figured that out, Muta. What I meant was: why?"

"Hopefully we'll find those answers alongside our missing dinosaur," Baron said.

"And where is that?"

"Someplace you know well."

ooOoo

Haru looked across the lake, her heart finding new depths to plummet. "I swear today is like a This Is Your Life: The Scarring Edition." She eyed the glassy expanse, and glanced back to the Bureau. "Please tell me it's not in the Cat Kingdom."

"The Cat Kingdom has considerably changed since Lune took the throne," Baron assured her.

"Yeah. 100% decrease on the kidnapping brides policy," Muta guffawed.

"There is that," Baron admitted. "But we are not reacquainting ourselves with the Cat Kingdom today. At least, I hope not, otherwise King Lune and Queen Yuki are going to have their paws full. No, today our attention lies on the forest about Cat Paw Lake."

A shiver passed through the ground. A footstep. Impossibly large for this day and age. Then a long, creaking groan rose through the forest, and Haru's mind reluctantly recognised it as the sound of a tree falling. She swallowed nervously.

"That…" Haru said after a dubious moment, "sounds very solid for an intangible soul."

"It shouldn't be," Toto said. "It's a Gist Creation."

"Yeah, well I don't think it much cares for what you think," Muta said.

Another crash. Uncomfortably close.

"Please tell me we have a plan," Haru whispered.

"Do ya really need to ask, Chicky?"

"We located it," Baron said. "That part of the plan has, at least, worked."

"It's not the finding part that worried me," Haru replied, "as much as what happens _after_."

The giant footsteps were nearing, and now trees along the lake's shoreline were visibly shaking. Ripples pooled across the water. Haru was beginning to rethink facing this particular Creation at all when there was a scream.

A child's scream.

Haru kicked into a sprint before she could stop herself, disappearing into the forest's long shadows. The initial cries of warnings from her companions quickly faded. Ahead was a ghostly glow. The outline of the Creation's body cleared just as someone small cannonballed into her. Haru grabbed the girl and hauled them both behind a tree.

She offered a shaky grin to the girl. "Hey, kid. I've got you now."

"It… He…"

"Deep breaths. It's all gonna be alright."

"He was meant to be my friend," the girl gasped. "But he's not listening anymore!"

Haru watched the dinosaur skeleton push its way through the forest, and then looked back to the child. Tears were spilling from her eyes and she looked on the verge of hyperventilation. Haru began to wish she'd kept her bag. At least she had some water in there. She knelt down to the girl's level and gave her best 'adult with the situation under control' smile. It wasn't her forte. "Hey, what's your name?"

"Emi." The girl hiccupped and the near-sobs momentarily ceased.

"Hi, Emi – I'm Haru. My friends and I often deal with things like this, so you're gonna be fine. Can you tell me what happened?"

"He… It… It threw me off. He's not listening to me anymore!"

"Did anything happen just before?"

"No. I don't know why… I want to go home."

"And you will." Haru looked away from Emi as she heard the flap of wings approaching. She fixed both Creations with a look as Toto landed. "I thought you said that Gist Creations did what their child wanted," she immediately said. "That thing," and she motioned in its general direction, "just threw Emi off and now it's out of control. Plus it's taking half the forest with it when it's meant to be intangible. What's going on?"

"Something must have altered it from an ordinary Gist," Baron said. "It could have been an almost Creation to start with, or it might have been the foreign magic."

"You think someone made this happen?"

"I don't know. But we can't allow it to continue like this." Baron looked to Emi. "Regardless of what caused it to act out like this, it should still be connected to you. It needs you."

Emi started to look like she was on the verge of tears again. Haru drew her into a hug and spared another look at Baron. "We're not letting it get near Emi again."

"We won't be able to keep them apart. Gist Creations cannot exist outside the imagination of the child that made them. It makes them just as much as the physical form it was created from."

Haru's eyes widened, and she brought the tiny skeleton replica from her bag. "You mean this?"

"Yes. Gist Creations need both their inanimate form and the child that believes in them to exist."

The tree they were sheltering behind splintered into a thousand pieces, and in its place loomed the skull of the Gist. It swung from side to side, taking in Haru lying where she had been flung from the blast, and then to the rest of the Bureau, who had managed to haul Emi out of the way. It took one slow, long step towards Emi.

Haru pushed herself onto her back, winded and gasping for air, and the world spun about her. There was shouting. Baron trying to rationalise with the Creation. Muta threatening. Toto coaxing Emi away from it. Nothing was working.

Haru stumbled to her feet, and her hand found the fallen dinosaur toy. A plan shambled together. Not a flawless plan, not a definite plan, but something. "Keep Emi there!" she ordered the Bureau, and she ran out into the exposed clearing. She brought the toy into the light. "Hey! Hey, you! Big, ghostly, and ugly! Look what I've got!"

Distantly, she noted the outcry from the rest of the Bureau at her exceptionally bad idea, but it was too late now. She just hoped they had enough faith in her to keep Emi away.

The skeleton swung its long neck in her direction and the two sockets where eyes should have been fixed on her. It started towards her. One giant step. Two giant steps. She saw Baron begin to move to her, and she gestured furiously for him to stay back.

"You need this, huh? This important to you?" Her hands were sweating now, the toy slippery in her grip. Had her nerves always hit like this? Did her heart always beat so beyond control on cases before she was lost? "You want this?" she shouted, and she heard the quiver in her voice. "Yeah? Well, come get it!"

Without looking to see if it was taking the bait, she turned and sprinted for the forest's edge. A moment later, the thud of footfall told her it was in pursuit – and gaining fast.

"Gotta go faster," she muttered to herself. "Gotta go faster."

The ground beneath her shifted from muddy forest to sandy beach, each footstep sinking and slowing her run. The shadow of the skeleton loomed over her. She reached the lake's shoreline and kept on going, the water coming up to her knees, and then her thighs, and now it lapped at her waist as the waves from the Creation's approach hit her.

Her footing slipped; she stumbled. Something – something large and bony – smacked into her side and she went under. The air rushed out of her in one pained gasp and she watched as one skeletal foot came down. She scrabbled at the sandy lake bed, pulling herself to one side just in time, and she felt the displacement of water roll through the lake.

She pushed herself back up to the surface, snatching a desperate breath before the dinosaur's neck slammed into her again. She went down, and this time she didn't move in time before the foot came down on her leg. She screamed, and now her lungs were burning, pain splintering through her head as the last bubbles of air slipped through her lips.

Trying to find something – anything – to battle against the pain, she dug her fingernails into the lake bed, blood drawing as she scratched against rocks beneath the sand – and there! She felt the glimmer of magic in the water around her. The portal potential of the lake called out to her and she responded in kind, pouring out her magic, pouring out everything last vestige of power she had, and the world was full of light.

ooOoo

Baron arrived at the lake's edge just in time to see the Creation knock Haru into the water. She appeared briefly, thrashing for air, and when she was slammed back down, the dinosaur stepped where she had fallen.

Everything went white.

"Toto," he said, and distantly he noted that his voice had gone deathly calm, "get me to Haru."

Above the lake, above the Gist, above where Haru had fallen, Baron watched as the whole lake lit up into an ocean of stars and its inhabitants vanished.

ooOoo

Haru bobbed up to the surface, the first deep breath shuddering through her. Above her was the clear blue sky of the Cat Kingdom, tranquil and completely unaware of the chaos about to be brought upon its doorstep. She tried to tread water, and nearly sank when her leg screamed out in pain.

She let her useless left leg dangle, and instead slowly paddled her way to the shoreline.

A roar of water behind her announced the arrival of the Gist Creation. She pushed onwards as fast as she could with one limp leg and one hand still grasping the dinosaur toy. She felt the waves hit her as the 100-foot dinosaur skeleton thrashed in the lake. Could skeletons even swim?

She felt ground beneath her feet and she dragged herself to the shallows where she finally allowed herself to collapse. She rolled onto her back and watched her pursuer attempt to follow.

Eventually the Creation's size weighed in its favour and its long legs found purchase on the lake floor. But even now it struggled. Its limbs moved erratically, its form crackled, and it slipped between solid and mist. It approached her, and its leg gave way.

She smiled weakly at it. "Not so tough now, huh?"

Across the lake, a black streak slipped through the last glimmer of the portal and flew up into the blue sky. It soared over the Gist, and Baron leapt down from Toto's back. He landed between Haru and the dinosaur. Haru began to call his name, but she faltered. There was something in the hold of his shoulders, the tilt of his head, which seemed… off. He stepped towards the Gist, and Haru propelled herself forward to grab his hand.

"Baron! It's fine. I'm fine."

He looked back to her, and for a moment she didn't think he saw her. Then the look cleared and he glanced between the dinosaur and Haru. "Haru. You're okay." He looked back to the skeleton. "We have to stop this, Haru. Whatever's happened to it, it's out of control."

"We have stopped it," she said. "Look." And as she nodded at it, the Gist's form collapsed entirely and the magic receded back into the toy in her hand. She grinned. "You said it needed both Emi and its physical form to exist. So I separated it."

"That… was very clever."

"I know."

"And also exceedingly foolish."

"It worked, didn't it?"

"You had no guarantee it would."

"Sounds about as valid as your plans then," Haru said. She tried to get up, and yelped when her leg reminded her of its injuries. Baron caught her before she hit the ground.

"You're hurt."

"I can hold my head up high as the first human ever to get stepped on by a dinosaur." She winced and leant her weight against Baron. "I'll live."

"We'll get you to the palace, and the doctors there will be able to heal you."

"Are you sure? I mean, they're cats." Haru paused when Baron looked to her. "I mean, you're a cat too, but, you know, with actual experience dealing with humans."

"One broken leg is much like another. Anyway, it'll be faster than getting you back to a doctor in the Human World – unless you're able to open up the lake portal again?"

Haru eyed the lake. "Honestly, even if I did have the energy, I'm not sure I want to go anywhere near it. Heya, Toto." She offered a tired grin as the crow landed before them. "You're huge!"

"I think you'll find that you're the one who has shrunk," Toto amended. "Congratulations on stopping the Gist, by the way."

Baron started towards Toto, but halted as his shoe knocked against the dropped toy. Haru watched his gazed passed over it, and that strange, alien look filled his eyes. She tightened her grip on his arm as his foot lifted off the ground. Towards the remains of the Gist. Above it. "So," she chirped, "what are we gonna do with it?"

Baron blinked, and that look was gone again, but still he took a few seconds too long to reply. He tore his attention away from the inanimate Gist form and Haru could almost convince herself she'd imagined it all. He stepped back. "Having brought it here, there may be a chance that it has permanently broken the link between it and Emi," he said. "If that's the case, then it won't be able to revert to a Gist state. We should be able to return it to the museum, where the little magic it has shouldn't be enough for it to change back into a Creation. Regardless, we should keep an eye on it for the foreseeable future."

"We'll drop you off at the palace," Toto said, "and then we'll get to returning Emi and our dinosaur friend back to their proper places."

"That's a point. Where is Emi? Did you leave her with Muta?"

"Time was of the essence," Baron said.

"You left her with the cat that stole her toy in the first place," Haru stated. "Right. Because _that's_ a wise idea."

"We came to help you."

"I had things covered."

"You were stepped on by a creature that's been extinct for over 150 million years," Toto reminded her.

"Oh, sure. Throw that in my face, why don't you?" Still, Haru couldn't resist a smile as she relaxed into Baron's hold. "Thanks for coming after me."

**ooOoo**

**Inspired by:** _**One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing** _ **(1975). Produced by Disney. Because I was forever disappointed to learn that this film wasn't about a dinosaur skeleton coming alive and running off, and instead being about it being stolen.**

 **References:** _**Jurassic Park** _ **. (Gotta go faster.)**

**ooOoo**

**Next Story:** _**The Neural Horizon** _ **.**

 **Teaser:** _**In hindsight, Morgan Yu later reflected, her first clue that something was amiss should have been waking up in the trauma centre with no recollection of how she got there. / "Holy… Space. We're in space." / "They want to live inside us. Like a disease." / This thing – this monster – was larger still, larger than a human, with glowing white eyes and a body formed of a black, tendril-like substance. / "They're… They're people," Haru managed in a horrified whisper. "They're changing people."** _


	3. Episode 3: The Neural Horizon (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A distress call brings the Bureau to the space station Talos 1, where an alien outbreak might just prove to be more than they can handle. Also in this case, parallel space, shape-shifting aliens, and GLOO guns.

_The Bureau Files: Series 5_

**ooOoo**

**Episode 3: The Neural Horizon (Part 1)**

In hindsight, Morgan Yu later reflected, her first clue that something was amiss should have been waking up in the trauma centre with no recollection of how she got there.

All she _could_ remember was the party they'd thrown after making the biggest scientific breakthrough since neuromods. So maybe the memory loss wasn't such a surprise after all. She shouldn't have had that third drink with Mikhaila. Regardless, given how that conversation had been going, if she'd had to guess which strange bed she would wake the next morning in, the trauma centre would not have been her first answer.

Getting to her feet was a perilous undertaking, but she had dismissed that also to the after effects of the previous night's intoxications. The locked door, however, was less easy to overlook.

She punched in the code for the medical centre to be greeted with an angry beep.

DENIED

Alright, so evidently she'd remembered it wrong. A hard night of partying – or drinking, anyway – tended to have that effect. She thumbed the number again, slower this time.

DENIED

Come to think of it, she'd never drunk herself into a stupor before. The Yu family wasn't exactly renowned for its uninhibited attitude, and she'd drunk more before on the day she'd been told she was being sent to the space station, Talos 1. She'd been unbearable smug when, despite all her brother's warnings, she'd woken the next day without even a headache.

Perhaps she was simply getting old.

She laughed at that thought and tried the code once more.

DENIED

This was ridiculous. She knew the trauma centre code – like the rest of her family, she had a good memory, especially for numbers – and, anyhow, she'd dropped by the centre only the day before last for a blood test. They wouldn't have changed the code so recently. Not for the first time, she wondered just what exactly had happened last night that would warrant such a frosty reception.

DENIED

Well. She obviously wasn't going to be leaving that way any time soon. She paced the limited room, noting anything in her sparse environment that might clue her in. She had a medical bed, a metal chair, and little else. Not even a book. Alex had to be pissed then.

Beyond her room, she could see the rest of the trauma centre through the glass door. A trolley was wheeled to one side, an empty coffee cup and a neuromod removal device left atop it.

And that was the point where her little drunken theory began to wobble.

She slammed a fist against the door. "Hey! Anyone out there? I think you're forgetting someone!"

A shadow moved across the dimly-lit centre and raised the lights. A man in a white lab coat removed his hand from the switch and adjusted his round spectacles.

Dr Bellamy.

"So, you're awake."

He wouldn't be Morgan's first choice of company, but at this point she was just glad to see a familiar face. Morgan skipped past the usual banal pleasantries and rounded on the window separating them.

"What happened? What am I doing here?"

In juxtaposition to Morgan's own impatience, Dr Bellamy approached the window slowly. His expression was one of curiosity and wariness. "What do you last remember, Miss Yu?"

Morgan shrugged, feigning nonchalance she didn't feel. "The typhon neuromod breakthrough." Her gaze darted impatiently across the room beyond the glass. "Where's Alex? Where's my brother? Is he so mad that he's not even going to show his face?"

"Your brother is unavailable at the moment," Dr Bellamy answered. He was flicking through something that look suspiciously like a patient sheet, which meant that whatever had happened to Morgan, it probably wasn't just a little bit too much to drink. "The neuromod breakthrough was in December, correct?"

"Yes. We were about to test it the next day – today, in fact–"

"Morgan, that was three months ago."

"What?"

"Today is February 23rd. You're three months out."

Morgan stared, but her attention had shifted to her own faded reflection in the window. Now she saw her bloodshot eyes, the tell-tale symptom of neuromod removal. Her gaze flickered back to the device on the trolley, and she reluctantly accepted the facts. "Three months?" she echoed. "You removed a three-month-long neuromod? Why?"

Dr Bellamy met her gaze with tired eyes. "Complications," he said, and he peered into the two coffee mugs resting atop the trolley. He checked both for residual warmth and then resigned himself to cold coffee regardless. He picked up the nearest cup. "Don't worry, we'll bring you up to speed as soon as everything's back under control."

"Under control? Why would you need to get anything back under control?"

The mug in Dr Bellamy's hand exploded. Its form dissolved away into shadows and a four-legged… _thing_ gathered together out of the remains. It lunged at Dr Bellamy's face and he was dead before he hit the floor.

Morgan froze, a scream lodged and silent in her throat reduced to ragged gasps. She stumbled away from the window as the creature – the monster – careened across the room. It bounced off the glass – once, twice – and then turned and scuttled away in realising Morgan was beyond its reach.

Slowly, Morgan returned to the window. Perhaps it would have been simpler if she hadn't known what it was, if she hadn't known it to be a portent for far more potent monstrosities. If she had been able to dismiss it as her imagination or something beyond reason.

But she knew exactly what it was.

_Typhon cacomorphus._

Aliens.

ooOoo

Haru lingered at the library door, nibbling on a fish cracker while she watched Baron work. She absent-mindedly wound a finger around the pendant's chain about her neck, its magic to ward off the cat-changing force of the Cat Kingdom tickling at her skin. "Any luck?"

"I think I'm almost there…"

"Don't forget to take a break. "

Baron waved it away. "Of course not."

"Uh-huh." Haru sat down – a little heavily – on the edge of the cushioned bench that served as library seats. "You forget I know what you're like when you get working. And you haven't had the chance to do this kind of research since the Sanctuary vanished. Have you stopped once since I last left you?"

"I made tea."

Haru leant forward and placed a finger against the cup's side. It was stone cold. "Baron, that's the tea you made when you arrived. You need to take a break."

"I will. How are King Lune and Queen Yuki?"

"You're changing the subject, Baron. But they're doing fine. Just a bit busy trying to run a kingdom and parent their kittens. They said we can stay as long as we like." She moved the tea to one side to get a better look at the notes scattering the table. Scrolls of Cat history and research dominated the surface, all covered in those strange Cat hieroglyphics that she recalled from the personal scroll she'd received upon saving Lune. If she squinted, the hieroglyphics rearranged themselves into recognisable words.

Baron noted her expression. "Still having trouble with the hieroglyphics?"

"It's like trying to read through water." She sat back and rubbed her head, trying to ease off the budding headache. "Baron, if the Sanctuary translated everything we came across, what's going to happen when that wears off?"

"Complications."

"Gee, that's encouraging."

Baron smiled. "If it's any consolation, written translations were always far harder for the Sanctuary than spoken languages. So while we may face some reading issues, general conversation shouldn't be too affected for a while yet."

"I can still read your notes."

"For the moment. But I am writing in a language from your own world; written translations across worlds – for instance, Cat and Human – is far more fraught."

"And how are your notes going?"

"Slowly. But I am getting there." Baron retrieved something that looked akin to a small crystal ball about the size of his hand. "The Cat Kingdom already uses glass balls like these to communicate and watch over greater distances. I believe that, with the right kind of spell, the magic can be manipulated to pick up distress calls instead."

"Like the Sanctuary used to."

"Indeed. But since this will be a spell, not sentient decision-making as it was with the Sanctuary, it's further complicated by the necessity to install the right parameters so it picks up only distress calls, and not simply any communication across worlds."

"Sounds thrilling," Haru deadpanned.

"If the Bureau wishes to reclaim any sense of normality, it needs to be done."

There was a soft silence between them. Baron passed the distress ball over to Haru, who rolled it between her hands. It gave off a gentle warmth. "You really miss it, don't you?" she murmured.

"The Sanctuary? Of course, it was my home–"

"Not just that." Lights flickered in the ball's depths, like a plasma globe reacting to touch. "The helping. People who needed us could always find the Sanctuary, but now it's gone…" She lowered the ball back onto the desk. "That's why you're doing this. So you can find people to help again."

Baron watched the fruit of his endeavours roll across his notes before slowing to a stop. Then he looked to Haru. "It is what I was made to do."

"I know." She half-laughed. "I miss it too. I think we all do. Working with the Bureau – _helping_ with the Bureau… it really is something else. So, how will we know when you've finished?"

"We can't be sure until it picks up a distress call. Once it does, we can use a tracking portal crystal to open up a passageway to follow the signal's source."

"It was easier when we had the Sanctuary," Haru said. "People just stumbled onto our doorstep then." She sighed and leant back against the wall, and Baron didn't miss the way she gingerly stretched out her left leg.

"Still tender?" he asked.

"For having been stepped on by a dinosaur? Yeah, still tender." She flexed her toes, and smiled when the action brought no pain. "But almost as good as new now. Pretty lucky it didn't break my leg, to be honest."

There was a nearly tangible silence from Baron.

Haru groaned. "Okay, what are you thinking?"

"Nothing–"

"You're making your uncomfortable thought face."

"…I have a face for that?"

"What is it?"

He continued to carefully not look at the healed leg. "It should have. When it stepped on you," he clarified, "it should have broken your leg."

She leant towards him. "But it didn't."

"It didn't," he agreed. "But it should have. The weight should have shattered your leg beyond repair, beyond recognition–"

"And now I'm feeling nauseous."

"–but it didn't."

Haru gave him a hard look. "Are you complaining that my leg _isn't_ a bloody mess?"

"No. But…" and Baron paused here, considering his words, "it's strange, nonetheless."

"Says the talking cat doll."

Anything Baron had to say was swallowed up as the distress ball burst into light. He waved a hand across it, and the light bent back upon itself until it wasn't in danger of blinding its viewers. A voice rose up from its depths.

" _I repeat, this is Sarah Elazar, security chief aboard Talos 1. There's been a containment breach. We need a rescue team immediately. I repeat–"_

The voice fizzled out like a faulty transmission, dismissing the SOS to static.

Haru and Baron exchanged glances. Haru very gingerly picked up the ball. "Well, I guess that answers whether it works or not. Now all we need to do is track down a tracking–" She hissed in shock and the distress ball slipped from her grasp.

Baron caught it, and offered Haru a worried look as he set it back on the table. "Are you okay, Haru? Did it hurt you? I'm still smoothing out the magic–"

"I can feel it," she said.

"The magic? That is not too surprising. I haven't perfected the spell yet, so–"

"No, I mean…" Haru ran her fingers over the distress ball's glassy surface, but the loose magic was already dissipating. "I can feel the message coming _through_ worlds. I can feel it slipping between realities to get to us."

She saw Baron's curiosity pique. "I suppose it isn't impossible. The message does travel between worlds, so it must find a way through somehow. It's not a portal, but it's still interworld magic."

"I bet I could follow it–"

"We have tracking portal crystals for that," Baron reminded her, and he gently reclaimed the distress ball. "Let's avoid too many experimental trips between worlds for now. Regardless, you're still recovering, so perhaps–"

"I'm not sitting this one out."

Baron curtly closed his mouth, and then started again with, "I wasn't about to say that."

"Oh, really? Then what _were_ you about to say?"

"You need to be careful, Haru. You're not invincible."

"According to my not-shattered leg, I might be," Haru retorted with a teasing grin.

"Haru…"

"I'll be careful," she promised. "Or, at least, as careful as you are. Now, we have a distress signal to follow."

ooOoo

Morgan lowered the metal chair and tried to wipe the black typhon remains off her hands. Her heart was racing, the image of what had happened to Dr Bellamy – what had nearly happened to her – still dominating her mind. She exhaled slowly and looked to the Operator hovering outside her medical room. "I'm sorry, you were saying?"

The Operator was a blocky piece of machinery, attempts to make it sleek visible in the way it tapered towards its top, but the wiring was loose in places and a fading yellow label with 'January' on it was stuck to one side. It hovered over to the window, the blue light that almost seemed to serve as a flickering eye.

"Hello, Morgan," it said. Its voice was light and familiar. "It's time we spoke. My code name is January. You're not dreaming. If you want to know what's going on, first you need to get out of the trauma centre. You're not safe."

Morgan kicked aside the typhon remains. "Go figure." Still, a moment later she glanced up to the loose panelling in the ceiling that the typhon mimic had pushed through. She pulled her sleeve over her hand and brought the metal chair directly beneath the gap.

Time to bust out of here.

ooOoo

The lobby was large and open – and empty.

One expansive wall was nothing but windows, exposed to the moon they were orbiting around and the glimmering lights of the Earth beyond, faintly haloed by the gleam of stars. Inside, the lobby was comfortable; plush red sofas facing out towards the view, high-set coffee stools and tables situated closer to the drop off, and winged lion statues, built from polished gold metal, headed the stairs.

It was large and open and empty – until a green portal appeared and dropped the Bureau into a screeching pile in the middle.

Haru groaned and pushed the rest off her. "I swear those portals are getting worse every time," she grumbled, and rolled herself onto her feet. "Or maybe that's just how Natoru sets them up. Geez, I miss the Sanctuary…" She trailed off as she stood, eyes finally passing over the panoramic view. "Holy… Space. We're in space."

Baron dusted down his suit as he rose to his feet, sparing a glance to the windows before moving his attention to the room. "It would appear so."

" _Space_."

"We heard ya the first time, Chicky."

"Is nobody else amazed and slightly terrified by this?" Haru demanded. "We're on a space station. In _space_. Do you know how few people actually get to go to space?"

"I know that the word 'space' is beginnin' to sound like a nonsense word, you've said it so many times."

"Oh, forget it."

"It is amazing," Baron said.

"Then why do you sound like somebody's just spat in your tea?"

"It's amazing… and empty," he said. "This place should be heaving with people."

"Maybe they're all on their tea break?" Haru offered. She watched as Baron reclaimed a sheet of paper from his jacket pocket, a spell drawn into it, and pass a hand over it. The symbol lit up, and suddenly there was a six-foot-tall Baron standing beside her. "Is that really necessary?" she asked.

Toto settled on Baron's shoulder, ruffled feathers betraying his own wary state. "We did receive a distress call from the security chief," he reminded her. "Which would imply that something is amiss."

"You know, for once it'd be nice if we were called on a case which involved a nice sit down and a cup of tea." Haru glanced back at where the portal had dropped them, subconsciously rubbing her back as the memory of the fall reasserted itself. "Also, was I imagining things, or was that portal green?"

"We've jumped to a parallel world."

"Aw, really? I get to see space, and it's not even _our_ space? That sucks." As Haru turned away, a video stand – portrait orientated, and taller and wider than her – was triggered into action. Haru jumped back as the screen crackled and a voice, irresponsibly loud in the otherwise silent lobby, started up.

" _What is a neuromod? Well, it's both an easy answer – and a complicated one at the same time. It is the future – today. And more importantly, our past – today. This is the work TranStar does. Every employee. Working together. It's immortality. And it is… it is… b-b-beati… beautif…"_

It fizzled out and silence settled back over the room.

Haru carefully stepped away from the screen, trying her best not to trigger it again. "Did that make sense to anyone? Baron? Toto? What's a neuromod?"

"Nothing that exists in our world," Toto said. "And I don't like the talk of achieving immortality. Anything like that usually comes with a price."

"Says the immortal gargoyle," Haru pointed out.

"Neuro is usually a prefix that relates to the synapses in the brain," Baron theorised, "while mod… well, it used to refer to a particular fashionable style originating in England in the 1960s…"

"Somehow I don't think a neuromod is a type of fashion," Haru said. She thought for a moment, and added, "Sometimes it's short for moderator – especially online."

"Are ya saying that these things keep yer brain under check? Cause that doesn't sound like a horror movie, _at all_."

"Actually, I was thinking more of a YA dystopian novel myself," Haru said, "but horror movie works too."

There was only the quiet whirr of a weapon warming up as warning before something slammed into Haru's feet. She swayed where she stood, but quickly found her legs caught in place by a glue-like foam substance that had rapidly hardened. Another whirr, another smack, and Baron – already in the motion of starting towards their attacker – was similarly halted.

"Nobody move!"

Haru spun as best she could to see a figure in an orange space suit, a bulky, rounded gun raised towards the Bureau, and panelled helmet hiding their face. Haru attempted a grin. "It's not like you've given us much choice." Haru noted the steady rise and fall of the stranger's chest, the level hold on the peculiar weapon, and decided that this was someone who knew what they were doing. She motioned for Toto and Muta to stay back. "Sarah?" she tried. "Sarah Elazar?"

The figure approached the strange assortment of individuals, gun lowering a little as they neared. Haru could see at least one other gun – a more traditional type – on them, as well as a wrench in easy reach. The wrench's end was marred with a strange black substance, splattered in such a way to be reminiscent of blood stains.

The helmet tilted towards Baron, and not for the first time Haru had to remind herself of her companions' strange appearances. "No," they said eventually. "I'm not Sarah Elazar." The gun was pointed in Baron's direction. "And what are you? An alien? Things must have really changed on the last three months."

"I'm no alien," Baron said. There was only the slightest uneasy pause before he continued, his gaze staying steadily on the weapon aimed at him. "I am a Creation. When someone creates something with all their heart, then that thing gains a soul. Such as myself, and Toto there."

The stranger stilled for a moment, and Haru could almost hear the gears whirring away inside their mind as they tried to come to terms with this new information. Eventually, they came to the conclusion of, "So you're manmade."

"In a manner of speaking."

The figure nodded, and pressed something in their suit so that their helmet retreated back. A woman's face, with dark short-shorn hair and high cheekbones, stared out. "A strange skin choice by your creator, but maybe fur is the fashion right now for the next generation of operators. I'm not going to judge." The gun was dropped back to her side, and she turned to offer her hand to Haru. "The name's Morgan Yu. What's going on?"

Haru took the hand. "Haru Yoshioka. And… I was kind of hoping you could fill us in."

Morgan gave a tense chuckle. "I seem to be missing the last three months in my memory. Whatever you know, it'll be more up to date than mine."

"We've just arrived," Toto said. "We heard the distress call from Sarah Elazar, and came to help."

Morgan leant back, reappraising the group. "Wait. Can you all talk?"

"Better believe it," Muta grunted. "Yer ain't about to faint, are ya?"

"I was considering the GLOO gun, actually. But if you came to help…" Morgan slammed the butt of the gun into the hardened foam about Haru and Baron's legs, shattering it and releasing them. "Right now this station needs as much help as it can get. Do you have a solution for the typhon outbreak?"

"The what outbreak?" Haru asked. She started back to sit on a stool, only for it to shift beneath her. She jumped back just in time to see it morph into a black, shadowy creature. It leapt for her. She half sprung, half stumbled away when the GLOO gun slammed another round of glue into the creature. Morgan swept forward and smacked the wrench into it, switching between gun and wrench with uncanny easy. After several hits, the creature shattered entirely.

Morgan stepped back, a fresh black mark now staining the wrench, while Baron lowered the cane that he had been too slow to react with. "That," she said. "Any other questions?"

"Many," Haru said. "Many, many questions."

"You don't have a solution for the typhons then," Morgan said, not a trace of a query in the statement. She holstered her weapons back. "You shouldn't have come here if you didn't know what you were getting into, but it's too late for you to turn back now. Sarah Elazar is in Cargo Bay B rounding up survivors – your best bet will be with her."

"What do you mean it's too late for us to go back now?" Toto asked.

"Not a single typhon can be allowed to get back to Earth," Morgan said. "And with the mimic's ability to disguise themselves as even the most mundane of items, they could have already infiltrated the ship you arrived here by. So, until this situation is under control, no ships are departing." She fixed the group with a hard stare. "Any ship found leaving will be shot down. Understood?"

The Bureau exchanged glances.

"Perfectly," Baron said.

Morgan nodded and brought her helmet back up.

"But," Baron continued, "we were also serious when we said we were here to help. Tell us how we can be of service."

Morgan snorted. "You? You don't understand what you've stepped into. It'd be best for everyone if you found somewhere safe to hole up and hope the typhons don't find you. Don't get in my way." With a steely nod, Morgan turned and headed across the lobby, leaving the Bureau feeling somewhat redundant.

"You know," Toto started slowly, "maybe she has a point. Our expertise lies in magic and Creations – not aliens. There's no shame in knowing our limits."

"When did ya turn into such a yellowbelly?"

"I'm not scared. Just logical," Toto retorted. "There's nothing stopping us from going back – we didn't arrive by ship, so there's no chance that one of these aliens will be carried back with us when we return. The sensible thing would be to go home and leave this to people who know what they're doing."

"These people called for help–" Baron started.

"And they have help in the form of the scary lady with the oversized glue gun," Toto said.

"Who has no idea what's going on either," Haru reminded him.

"She took down one of those monsters without batting an eyelid. I think she'll manage."

The rest of the Bureau exchanged glances, mentally assessing their own stance on their situation. Eventually, Haru shrugged and said, "Well, I'm all for staying, aliens or not."

"Is that because you want to help, or because you're just excited to be in space?" Muta asked.

"I can multitask." There was a pause, and Haru shrugged again – somewhat defensively this time. "Okay, so space is cool. Sue me. What about you?"

Muta made a face, which implied he was in the uncomfortable situation of agreeing with Toto. "Yer want to help people, yer can do that with little old ladies crossing the street. Don't see why we have to go running into aliens of all things, just 'cause we caught that particular SOS on your magic crystal ball."

Haru returned the look. "It's what the Bureau does, Muta."

"I'm jus' saying."

Haru looked to Baron. "Baron? What do you think?"

Baron was silent a moment, his gaze skimming over the space station lobby, but not really seeing it. To Haru's surprise, he didn't jump straight back into his usual mantra of helping others. "I think…" he started slowly.

There was a scream.

"…that we should investigate that," he finished.

"Yer know, most people run _away_ from screaming," Muta offered, half-heartedly as – predictably – his companions made a beeline for the source. "Typical. Guess I'll just guard the lobby, right?"

One of the empty mugs began to shiver, and it might have just been from the people charging past it – but then again, they had just seen a chair transform into an alien. Muta started after the rest of the Bureau.

"Hey! Wait up!"

Haru stumbled through a set of doors and nearly tripped over the prone body lying across the threshold. Baron caught her shoulders and pulled her back before gravity could take over.

"What…? How?" Haru was aware she was breathing fast, too fast, lightheadedness taking over as she hyperventilated. She slapped her hands over her mouth and forced slow, steady breaths. "Are they dead?" she whispered, her mind already knowing the answer.

Baron carefully released her and knelt down to the person – a woman in orange and white space suit – gently passing a hand over the pallid face. "No pulse," he said after a moment. "No breath." He tilted the woman's head to one side to reveal blood matting dark hair. "Head trauma," he added, quieter still. "Looks like whatever hit her – or whatever she was thrown against – was hard and fast. Possibly an accident."

Haru slowly knelt down beside him. Her gaze rested on the shotgun that was only inches from the woman's reach. "And then again," she said, eyeing the weapon, "possibly not." She nudged it uneasily. "What made her reach for the gun?"

Movement caught her eye, and – grabbing Muta – she scuttled behind a table, only a few seconds slower than Baron. Baron had similarly brought Toto out of sight.

There was the sound of something shuffling.

" _They want to live inside us. Like a disease."_

Haru raised her eyebrows at Baron. It was a voice – definitely a voice – but there was little human about it. It was guttural and distorted – more of an imitation than actual words. "Monster?" Haru mouthed.

Baron shifted his head to one side, staring at the glass window set into the wall. He nodded slowly.

Haru followed his gaze. There – in the window – was the reflection of the rest of the room. And, dominating most of the view was a large, black, almost humanoid creature. She hoped it only _looked_ larger than it actually was. She doubted it.

She inhaled soundlessly through her mouth; even the parting of lips suddenly felt too loud in the room. The first alien – the mimic – had been bad enough. But this thing – this _monster_ – was larger still, larger than a human, with glowing white eyes and a body formed of the same black, tendril-like substance. It lumbered across the room and slowed to where the woman's body lay.

Her back pinned against the desk, she felt it shift as the creature leant one spindly, shadowy hand onto it. In the glass she could see it examine the corpse.

" _What does it look like?"_ the creature wheezed, and Haru felt her heart constrict. " _The shape in the glass?"_

Baron's hand curled around Haru's arm. A reassuring squeeze – or perhaps a warning – was offered. Haru nodded, barely more than a tick of the head, and gave a weak smile that she didn't believe. Had their adventures always been this dangerous? Or was she just unlucky in her return? She couldn't remember her heart beating so erratically before.

But, then again, she had half believed herself invincible back then.

And for all her jokes about being invincible now, she didn't feel that way anymore.

The desk creaked as the typhon released it, its strange footsteps falling fainter as it lurched back across the room. As it vanished round a corner, there was a collective sigh from the entire Bureau.

"Hey, Chicky, ya can release me now. Please!"

Haru loosened her hold on Muta with a breathless laugh. "Sorry. Okay, but what was _that_?"

"A good reason to get out of here," Toto said. He hopped up onto the desk to ensure the creature had really gone. "Something else is coming – we should move."

Haru struggled to her feet, her legs suddenly strangely weak beneath her. She grabbed the fallen gun, making a face at Baron before he could speak. "Yeah, yeah, I know – weapons aren't the Bureau's style. But did you _see_ that thing?"

"Hide!" Toto whispered, and Haru found herself hauled behind the wall beside the open door. She rolled her shoulder out of Baron's grip, a little embarrassed that her own response had been so slow.

"What is it?" Haru asked. "Another monster?"

"It's built the same way, but it's different."

"Same but different. Well thank you, birdbrain, for that enlightening answer–"

Haru slipped a hand over Muta's mouth before his voice could raise any louder. She eased herself round the doorway to peek at the latest arrival.

Like Toto had said, it was indeed built from the same writhing, black substance, but there most of the similarities ended. It was not humanoid; instead it hovered a half-metre off the ground, its centre surrounded by a mass of gently-swaying tendrils. Haru could see no eyes on its being, but she didn't want to test that. She swung back behind the wall.

"Well?" Muta prompted, as best he could behind her hand.

"I don't know what it is and I don't want to find out."

Golden light spilled across the room, and Haru caught herself looking back again before she could stop herself. The latest typhon was now bathed in streams of light that ran along its otherwise black tendrils. There was a scraping noise as the woman began to lift off the ground.

Baron grabbed Haru's wrist before she could bolt out into the open. "Haru–"

"She's alive," Haru hissed. "And that _thing_ –" She gagged on her words as the woman continued to rise, lifted like a puppet on strings until her toes barely traced the panelled floor. Shadows rose up from the ground and danced around the woman's form, flickering like flames until they all converged in one sudden, violent movement and the body vanished. The remains, coiled in place by those shadows, congregated back to form a repeat of the humanoid typhon monster from earlier.

"They're… They're people," Haru managed in a horrified whisper. "They're changing _people_."

"Dead people," Muta corrected, but even he sounded hoarse. "Okay, this ain't fun anymore; let's go."

"I think I've had my fill of space," Haru agreed. "And unless anyone is harbouring secret alien butt-kicking powers, I think we might be out of our depth here. All those in favour say aye and run for the lobby as soon as the alien's gone." She twisted where she crouched, tilted round once more to check on the typhon when her leg gave way beneath her and smacked into a chair leg.

She froze, eyes closing weakly in regret.

Several moments of breathless silence passed in which the Bureau convinced themselves it had gone unnoticed, filled only by the squeak of the chair wheels skittering across the floor, when there was a frazzle of air and crackling and the humanoid typhon appeared before them.

Baron hoisted Haru to her feet. She skittered sideways, out of the immediate range of the creature's arms when the air rippled again and something slammed into her stomach. She flew through the room, her feet losing the ground, and even through the pain all she could think about was the way the woman's toes had risen from the floor before being turned into this… this _thing_.

Her back smacked into the glass wall that looked out onto the expanse of space, and she slid down to the floor, gasping. The chair that had hit her lay to one side – the chair that Haru was sure she hadn't seen the creature pick up. She dropped her head to one side, desperately trying to blink away the stars before her eyes and clear the fog across her mind.

The alien – transformed human? – phased forward, almost vanishing at the doorway and reappearing mere metres from Haru. " _Even if we're dead_ ," it rasped, in that same inhuman voice, " _it won't be over…"_

Haru scrabbled sideways, breaking into a juddering run as she heard the chair hit the glass inches behind her. She glanced back to see the chair lift from the ground as if with magic, but before the alien could aim it properly in her direction, the full force of the rest of the Bureau cannonballed into it.

The chair bounced harmlessly against the glass once again – almost. Tiny cracks slithered across the glass even as Haru watched.

"Chicky! A little help?"

Haru snapped her attention back to the alien. Baron's cane – or perhaps just the initial shock at retaliation – had paused it in its tracks, but now it swung out one arm and slammed Baron to one side. It threw off the cat who had somehow jumped onto its back and had been clawing as best as he could at it.

One of the desks across the room began to steadily rise up.

"Oh no you don't," Haru muttered. She dragged the discarded chair up into her hands and smacked it into the alien's chest. It took a step back.

"To the door!" Haru yelled. "Get to the door!"

Muta didn't need to be told twice. He picked himself up and scarpered for the exit. Toto circled Baron and ushered the reluctant Creation away. Haru gave the alien another hit with the chair, and ran after the rest. She shoved Baron through the door and glanced down desperately for where she had dropped the gun.

"Haru – you're injured–"

Haru ignored Baron's worries and instead focused on the weapon he had in one hand. She had assumed he had rushed the alien with his ever trusty cane – instead, a gun was gripped in his gloved hand.

She snatched it off him before she could think it through. "Everyone stay on this side of the door," she ordered. She raised the gun in the direction of the approaching typhon.

"Haru…" This time the half-warning, half-query came from Toto.

"I've got this." She snapped the gun's direction to the glass wall and fired off a volley of shots into the window. The typhon paused and seemed to regard the missed shots. Then it carried on approaching them.

"If you've got a plan, Chicky, now is the time…"

"I'm trying." Haru released another round of bullets, and this time the crack in the glass began to splinter out. A strange whistling noise started up just as the gun clicked through empty cartridges. It would be enough. It had to be.

Haru thumped the butt of the gun into the locking mechanism, and the door slid swiftly shut. The typhon swayed on the other side.

"That's it?" Muta whispered. "Yer gonna shut the door in its face and hope that aliens haven't invented door handles yet? Perhaps if yer hadn't _missed_ –"

"I didn't miss," Haru said, and that was when the window shattered.

There was no sound to the action, but then, everything beyond the door was silent. The shadow at the door vanished, one moment looming at the Bureau and the next sucked out into the vacuum of space. For several moments, the only movement was that of desks and chairs and files flying out, and then there was a terrible stillness of an empty room.

Haru dropped the gun.

"That was a person," she whispered. "Did I just…?"

There was the barest touch of a hand against her arm and Haru flinched away from the contact. "She was dead before the alien changed her," Baron said. "Whatever we just faced, it wasn't human. Not anymore."

"But… she spoke…" Haru shook her head. "They both did. They… They…" She gagged and paled further. "I'm sorry, I was wrong. We should go back. Where's the portal crystal?"

Baron dropped a hand into his jacket pocket, and Haru felt him freeze. She watched his eyes jump to the empty room and then the vacuum of space beyond.

"Baron," she whispered, "where's the portal crystal?"

"It's gone. When the creature hit me, it must have…" and again, his gaze searched the starry void, to the debris of furniture floating through the expanse of space, "dropped out." He looked back to the Bureau, a terrible apology in his eyes. "We're trapped here."

**ooOoo**

**Teaser:** _**The recorded Morgan offered the video a short smile. "If you're watching this then, chances are, things have gone south and your memory's shot full of holes. I know, I'm sorry, but it's permanent." / A shadow fell over them, and Haru felt the presence of something floating behind them. She turned and looked up into the white eye of the telepath. / "This is a warning to anyone who finds this video: shut down the typhon neuromod program. Hell, maybe shut down the neuromod program entirely, while you're at it. What we're doing here – what we've unleashed – can never reach Earth."** _


	4. Episode 4: The Neural Horizon (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now trapped on Talos 1, the Bureau joins up with Morgan Yu in a plan to bring the alien outbreak to a close. Also in this case, mind control, amnesia chicks, and past mistakes.

_The Bureau Files: Series 5_

**ooOoo**

**Episode 4: The Neural Horizon (Part 2)**

There was a slow clap behind them, and the Bureau turned to see Morgan appraising them from the second floor of the lobby.

"Very nice," she called. "Perhaps I was somewhat mistaken about you. Perhaps you _do_ stand a chance against the typhon." The clapping died away and Morgan began descending the stairs. "Then again, you _have_ just exposed an entire section to the vacuum of space for the sake of one phantom. A bit of an overreaction, if you ask me."

"Phantom?" Haru asked.

"The typhon you just shot into space. They're nasty and fast, but nothing a few shots with the GLOO cannon won't slow down and some good bullets won't manage." As Morgan neared, she hoisted the gun that Haru had dropped and dumped it back into Haru's reluctant hands. "If you want to help, you're going to need that."

Haru eyed the weapon warily, but didn't discard it. "That alien – _phantom_ ," she corrected, trying out the name on her tongue, "we saw it being created from a human…"

"Yes, phantoms originate from human corpses. A variation of typhon called a weaver takes cadavers and remakes them into phantoms."

"See?" Muta muttered, although he didn't look too happy either. "Dead."

Haru wished that knowing that could be a relief, that there was nothing more she could have done to help the woman. Instead, it just made her wonder how many people had already perished on this space station. She shifted her uneasy grip on the gun. "Well, it looks like we are here to help for the foreseeable future, so let's go. What's the plan?"

Morgan offered a wiry smile. "My office may offer some insight as to what happened in the three months my memory is missing. I may have even anticipated this situation and found a solution."

"Like our luck is ever that good," Muta muttered.

Haru shot the cat a look and followed after Morgan, slowing only as they passed the place where their portal had originally spat them out into this world. The only sign that anything magical had ever taken place was the merest glimmer of green in the air. Just another reminder that not only had they jumped between worlds, but between parallel universes also.

Toto landed on Haru's shoulder, nearly making her jolt. "Haru? Is everything okay?"

No, Haru thought. But she smiled weakly and shrugged her free shoulder. "It's fine."

Toto was quiet a moment, and Haru wondered if he was considering an 'I told you so.' She wouldn't have judged him for that – he was right. If they had listened to him, they wouldn't be in this mess.

"We'll make it out of here," he said eventually. "Somehow."

Haru couldn't see how, but she just patted the crow as if she believed the hollow reassurance. "Sure. But let's just focus on not getting killed by shadow aliens first, huh?" She offered that same weak smile and started quickly after the rest, catching up with Morgan as they reached the next floor up. "So tell me," she said, hastening her stride to keep up with the other woman, "how exactly do you lose three months' memory? Did you hit your head, or it's some sort of alien effect…?"

"Neuromods."

"Neuromods?" Haru echoed. "We saw a video about that, but it didn't really explain what they were…"

Morgan paused at the door to her quarters, passing a curious gaze over the odd assortment of individuals for not the first time. "Where have you been? Neuromod is short for 'neural modifier'. They're serums that can give the recipient extra abilities by changing the brain's structure. The only problem is, once a neuromod is removed, the patient's brain reverts to the state it was in when the neuromod was initially installed, memories included."

"So you lose all the memories you made while you had the neuromod in?"

"That's what I said, wasn't it?" Morgan keyed in her password and stood back while the door eased open. "Commercially, neuromods can grant abilities like being fluent in French or becoming a master at piano; they're a commodity for the wealthy."

"And the one that you had removed?" Baron prompted.

Morgan shrugged. "I don't recall. But it probably wasn't French." She raised her GLOO gun into the exposed room, and the Bureau waited for her to enter before following.

It was a mess.

"Geez, lady; you live like this?"

Morgan nudged aside a broken chair and made her way to the desk, where a computer stood with a shattered screen. "Dammit. The typhons must have found their way into here. January?"

An oblong-like machine, no bigger than a clunky suitcase, hovered to one side. A blue light flickered at its front, almost like an eye. "You called?" it asked, in a familiar female voice.

"My desk is ruined – any way you could bring up any relevant files?"

"Possibly. There is a video waiting for you on the Looking Glass. I can activate repairs on it, but it'll take a few minutes."

"Do it."

Haru glanced to the machine and then to Morgan. "That thing sounds a lot like…"

"Me. Yes, I know." Morgan was rifling through the drawers in her desk now, pulling out several notes and something that looked like an injection device. "This is January, an Operator that I apparently reprogrammed with my memories at some point in the last three months. January, say hi to the nice idiots who have blundered into a full alien outbreak."

The machine – Operator – drifted over to the Bureau. "Hello. I am January. I would offer to shake hands but, as you can see, I have none."

"I don't think she meant the idiot thing quite so literally," Haru muttered, but she nodded to the machine. "Haru. And this is Toto and Muta and Baron. We're here to help."

The Operator beeped. "Good. Then you will aid us in destroying Talos 1?"

"What?"

Morgan swept round and gave the Operator a whack with the butt of her gun. "Ignore that. January seems to be under the impression that the only way to stop the typhon outbreak from reaching Earth is to blow up Talos 1." She gave the machine a glare. "Which I'm still not convinced by."

"When you made me, you knew things were already spiralling out of control," January replied, the voice Morgan's, but the emotion drained. "You knew that if things reached this situation, total destruction would be the only way to ensure Earth's safety. Talos 1 must be destroyed."

Toto tilted his head at January. "If you have Morgan's memories, then perhaps you can tell us what's happened."

"I cannot. Parts of my memory core are corrupted."

"Which is why we're here," Morgan said. "January, how's the Looking Glass coming along?"

"It's almost ready. There is one video waiting for you, dated December, 2034." As January spoke, one of the far walls lifted to reveal a glass pane spanning the breadth of the room. A grey screen with a blue loading sign flickered into life, eventually giving way to show two figures in red space suits. One Morgan, and the other an older man with a round face and angular spectacles.

"That's my brother," Morgan murmured, "and his office." She frowned. "December 2034… That can't be too long after the neuromod installation."

The Morgan in the video leant forward in her chair, hands clasped together. " _Hello, Morgan. Tough day, right?_ " The recorded Morgan gave a slight chuckle. " _If I'm talking to myself, it must be._ "

" _Concentrate, Morgan_ ," her brother reminded. " _This is important_."

" _Right. Right_." The recorded Morgan offered the video a short smile. " _If you're watching this video, then chances are, things have gone south and your memory's shot full of holes. I know, I'm sorry, but it's permanent. By now, you've probably realised that the cause is neuromod removal, and you'll be wondering which neuromod is the culprit._ " She pulled forward a trolley with more of the strange injection devices atop it. " _Lately, we've been testing a new type based on the typhon organisms. Mapping their neural patterns onto ours. Putting what they can do into us. The one I currently have – and the one you've had removed – we gained by studying the phantom typhons. I mean, look at this…_ "

The recorded Morgan stretched out a hand and a chair across the room unsteadily rose into the air. A moment later, it slammed into the wall.

Haru jolted back as she recalled the same power being aimed her way. By the feel of Toto's claws digging into her shoulder, it seemed she wasn't the only one.

" _We've done it. It's real._ "

" _Back on track, Morgan_ ," the man warned.

" _Alex, if you wanted this done your way, you should have been the one doing the talking._ "

" _You'll believe yourself,_ " he replied. " _But who knows who else you'll trust if this doesn't work out._ "

The recorded Morgan offered her brother a somewhat patronising smile before turning back to the camera. " _Right. So because my brother is paranoid, we're putting together this video as a backup. All tests indicate that the typhon-based neuromods shouldn't have any extra effects compared to the human-mapped ones, but we can't be sure. If something goes wrong, the typhon neuromod will be removed, including any memories formed during that period. Now, it should be easy enough for someone to bring me – well, you – up to speed, but if you've found this video, chances are that that hasn't been the case. Chances are that something else has gone very wrong and that is what this video is for._ "

The recorded Morgan leant back in her chair and pulled forward what looked like blueprints from the trolley. " _Worst case scenario, that something is the typhon. Now, Alex and I have created a device that will bring down the typhon–_ "

" _Possibly_ ," Alex amended.

" _It'll work. Trust me. What else are you going to do – blow everything up?_ " Morgan shook her head and raised an eyebrow at the camera. " _So, the typhon organisms can create an elaborate structure – we call it coral – material unknown, purpose unknown. But my gut tells me it's some type of neural framework, but externalised. This device can shut it down, and alongside it, all the typhon. Now, here's the kicker – I cannot guarantee that this device won't also affect a human with typhon neuromods. So, they'll have to be removed. If that is the case – if you are watching this video and the typhon have broken containment, you need to find this device and activate it. It's called the Nullwave Device and you'll find it in Alex's office. Get there and stop the typhon_." Morgan gave one last smile. " _Good luck._ "

The video flickered to a close, and there was a long silence.

"Well," Haru said eventually, injecting false cheeriness into her voice, "that doesn't seem too bad. Where's your brother's office?"

"In the middle of the Arboretum. Level Three. And the lifts aren't working so we'll have to take the long way around."

Muta groaned. "Let me guess: stairs?"

"How else were you planning on reaching the next floor?" Morgan asked.

"I dunno. Was kinda hoping escalators would still be a thing."

"Keep hoping then. January, stay here. Let me know if you find anything else in this wreckage. Or, you know, if any memories from the past three months comes back to you. Either will do."

"Okay."

As Morgan gathered up resources she'd found – including the injection device, which Haru now guessed to be a neuromod installer – Haru edged over to Baron.

"You're being very quiet," she murmured. "It's been a while since I've heard you say so little." She gave him a pointed look to remind him that the last time he'd relapsed into such quietness hadn't gone too well. "I can tell when you're internalising."

"It's nothing."

"Right. And nothing has ever gone wrong when one of us lie to the other," she snapped. She winced a moment later, but the words were already out. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to… Look, what happened with Louise isn't… I mean, I just want to know–"

"And I'm sorry too," Baron said. "You're trapped here, and it's my fault."

"I was the one who thought we should stay here for a little longer," Haru said. "Heck, I was all for it. And it could have been any of us to lose the portal crystal back there, you were just the unlucky person to have it on you when the phantom attacked."

"You're very kind, but it doesn't change the fact that you're stranded here." He looked on the verge of stepping closer, but something – self-consciousness? Shame? – made him keep his distance. "Your friends and family lost you once before," he said, his voice barely above a murmur. "They shouldn't have to go through it again."

Aware that Baron wouldn't bridge the gap, Haru neared him instead. She offered the first smile in a while to reach her eyes. "Well then, we'd better make sure we find a way back, huh?" Her hand found his and gave a quick squeeze – _we are here, we are alive and real_ – and tugged him gently in the direction of the door.

Baron pulled away, making Haru stop in her steps. "Haru, you don't understand… I can't see a way to get us back. We could be trapped in this parallel world, this time, for ever. You might never see your home again. Your mother, Hiromi, Michael… This might be it."

Haru was aware her whole form had stilled, but her mind was white noise. There were so many thoughts – worries battling against anger against plans against pure emotion – that she couldn't make sense of any of it. She exhaled slowly and focused on the quiet but insistent voice of hopeful logic. She turned back to Baron. "This might be it," she agreed, "and… then again, it might not."

"Haru, I realise that in the past, we've always found a way out, but–"

"No, you listen to me," Haru retorted. It was only when she heard Morgan pause in her perusal of the room that Haru realised she'd raised her voice. She found she didn't care. "I spent a year lost and alone with the world thinking I was dead. I had no one. Just fake people who I used to fill an otherwise empty world of my own creation. But here – right here, right now – I am not alone. _We_ are not alone. So whatever happens, we'll be together." She glanced to the other two members of the Bureau. "All of us."

She looked back to Baron with a smile. "And I would take being here with you over being on my own again any day of the week."

"This is all very touching." At Morgan's voice, both Haru and Baron started. "But we still have an alien outbreak to stop. So, if you wouldn't mind…" She motioned to the door with one hand.

"Right. Of course." Haru offered one last, now somewhat rueful, smile to Baron and followed Morgan out. It was only as the weight of the gun shifted beneath her fingers that she realised she had forgotten to bring up Baron's usage of it earlier. Maybe it was just a case of the metal grip could deliver a hardier blow than the wooden cane – maybe.

As they headed out into the empty corridor, there was a light chuckle from Muta.

Haru glanced down to the cat. "What's so funny?"

"Eh, I was just thinking – it's like we're running a self-help group for amnesia chicks." At Haru's somewhat blank look, Muta elaborated. "Yer know – crazy gun lady with her missing three months, and you–"

All too quickly, Haru realised what he was referring to. "I can't remember the last year," she finished.

"Yeah. Should get ya badges or something."

"Yeah."

"I mean, probably jus' as well in your case. Ain't like the last year's been much fun, trust me. What with all the dying and monsters and stuff…"

Haru's smile thinned, and she looked away. She could sense Baron and Toto listening in, their worry almost oozing off them. "Yeah," she echoed. "Just as well."

She hurried over to Morgan, who was flicking through a small phone-like device with one hand, and keeping her gun trained on their course with the other. Haru glanced at the machine's screen, which seemed to be mostly words. "Everything okay?" she asked.

"Apart from the alien outbreak? Sure. Everything's fantastic." Morgan spared a look to Haru, and realised she was eyeing the phone. "I updated the list of neuromod skills from the hard drive in my office. It seems that I have quite the collection of typhon neuromods available." She clicked through a few buttons. "Apparently I've been rather busy the last three months."

Haru thought of the telekinesis that Morgan had displayed in the video and she had to admit that she could see how such power would be handy. "What other kind of abilities did you get from the typhon?" she asked.

"Most of the powers they've displayed, so it seems. Mimic matter. Kinetic blast. Regeneration. Mindjack…"

Haru startled at the last one. "Mindjack?" she echoed. "Is that like… mind control?"

"A rather crude term, but yes." Morgan spotted Haru's rather distressed look, and added, "These aren't commercially available neuromods – we were just testing that it was possible to take neuromod abilities and place them into humans."

Haru watched the long list on the phone screen. "Well," she said eventually, "it looks like you certainly proved that. Now you have a whole world of inhuman abilities at the tip of your finger."

Morgan seemed to hear Haru's voice harden, for her next look was almost defensive. "These skills are a scientific breakthrough, the next step in human development–"

"Sure, for the rich and wealthy, as long as they don't mind possible memory-wipes," Haru said, her voice tighter than she had been expecting. "Why do you need to map mind control powers anyway?"

"Nothing. It's just theory."

Haru looked pointedly at the device. "Doesn't look like just theory anymore to me. Something like that… it's going to get used whether you want it or not. You can't undiscover something."

Morgan was quiet in response, the first sign that Haru's argument had found traction. Haru wondered if these were questions that Morgan had been mulling over already, or if this was the first time she'd considered it.

For a moment, the only sound was that of their motley crew travelling through the silent space station. Then Morgan said, "It'd only be a problem if it fell into the wrong hands."

"And whose hands would be the right ones?" Haru asked. "Yours? Your brothers?"

"We invented it," Morgan replied, and this time a little of her previous self-assuredness slipped into place. "We created it, it's our responsibility."

"But why create it in the first place?" Haru pressed. "What good will something like that do – something that, once created, once discovered, you'll have to keep locked away? Why make it at all?"

"Because we could, okay?" Morgan snapped. She had halted and her form had gone rigid, defensive. "Because it was there and because we could! Why does anyone create anything? It's just the way we are." She turned and stormed on. "It's time we got going – the Arboretum should just be through here." Morgan slammed a button at the side, and a door slid open.

A garden in space would have been impressive enough. Haru could see that, in its design, the Arboretum would naturally be the expansive, flourishing zenith of Talos 1, a halo of greenery, a taste of Earth seated atop the space station, its glass ceiling inviting its visitors to marvel at the starlit space beyond. She could see why Morgan's brother would have chosen his office here.

That was in its design, that was clear enough. And in any other circumstances, Haru was sure any visitor could not help but be awed by this pinnacle of human creation, raging against the unforgiving nothingness of space.

Now, however, there was only the sea of gold.

It stretched through the Arboretum, delicately woven like a spiderweb but not visibly attached to the world it inhabited. It was light and intricate web all in one, colouring the garden in a glaze of gold.

"And that would be…" Baron began.

"That's the Coral," Morgan confirmed. She sighed and stepped out onto the paved path, her feet passing through the golden fibres to apparently no effect. She glanced back and saw the Bureau weren't so quick to follow her lead. "It doesn't do anything to humans – least that we can make of it, anyway. Come on – you can't get through the Arboretum without passing through it at some point."

The Bureau exchanged glances and then stepped out. Haru felt nothing as her legs brushed past the Coral; indeed, the Coral stayed as if Haru hadn't even walked through it. Ignoring all her better instincts, she knelt down to the nearest threads and passed a hand through it. It felt slightly warmer – or maybe she was straining so hard to feel some sign of its presence beyond mere appearance that she was fooling herself.

"Chicky, what are ya doing?"

"It's so weird," she said. "It's like it doesn't even exist on the same plane as us."

"Now you see why we're so curious about it," Morgan said, "and why we're still unsure of its purpose. You're not too far off in your guess though – the evidence seems to point to it being a complex net of electrical impulses, not unlike a neural mind map."

Haru quickly withdrew her hand, abruptly looking a little queasy. "Are you telling me I've just put my hand in the typhon's _brain_?"

Morgan almost smiled. "Not exactly – more like just the connections the brain makes."

"So this is why you believe nullifying the Coral will halt the typhon," Baron said. "Since it seems to join them together in, what? A hive mind?"

"Close enough. As you've seen, the typhon can take on many different forms, but they all seem to work together. Logically, this implies that they must have a way to retain that connectivity. Well, I believe you're looking at it. Scramble that, and you'll hit them all at once."

"Let's just hope it works out that simply," Haru said, thinking of their personal track record as far as plans were concerned.

They came to a very large greenhouse, its glass windows fogged from the heat within, and someone lying prone on their side of the door. Before Haru could think better of it, she rushed to the person's side and rolled them over onto their back. She screeched and jolted away as she saw they were lacking a face, any feature marred by the apparent explosion of their skull.

"Telepath," Morgan stated.

Haru scrambled back to her feet, her hands shaking, and Baron helped to steady her. "How…?"

"It takes over their mind," Morgan said simply, and she punched a number into the greenhouse door panel.

"Funnily enough, the name was a bit of a clue, but how does that – wait, are we going through there?"

Morgan looked to the open door, and then back to Haru with a raised eyebrow. "It's the quickest way through the Arboretum to Alex's office."

"And the telepath?" Toto asked.

"The body's outside. So it's probably out there too."

"And if it's not?"

Morgan tapped the strange helmet she wore, its panelled sides rising up to cover her face. "The psychoscope will stop it from getting to me. As for you – I don't believe they can affect Operators, no matter how fancy you are. As far as we can tell, they're only able to influence living things."

"Yeah, well, that line's always been a bit thin with you lot," Haru murmured to the Creations as she stepped through into the greenhouse.

"As for cats, I doubt it'll bother."

"And Haru?" Baron prompted.

Morgan paused, and then turned back to Haru and said, "Don't let it spot you."

Haru raised an eyebrow. "Gee, thanks."

"If it does, keep away from it. We think it can only affect you if you're near."

"How near? Like, _spitting-distance_ near, or _just so happens to be in the same room_ near?"

"How close are you intending to let it get?" Morgan asked.

"I don't know, that's why I'm asking."

"Look, just don't let it spot you." Morgan turned and froze, the whirring of her helmet the only sound in the greenhouse. She looked back to the greenhouse entrance, and then to the exit up ahead. "Duck," she whispered.

Haru dropped down a workbench, tucking herself low so she wouldn't be visible behind it. Her breathing suddenly felt too loud, threatening to echo across the glass chamber. "What are we ducking for?" she whispered back.

"The psychoscope picked up typhon movements."

"What type?" Baron asked. "A telepath?"

"I don't know. Next time I'll give it a chance to spot us back before warning everyone." Morgan looked up over the bench and scanned the room. She ducked back down a moment later. "Whatever it is, it's on the other side of the greenhouse. We're nearly at the exit, so if we move quietly, we should go unnoticed."

Muta gave a very discreet snort. "Define 'nearly'."

"It's closer than the way we came in," Morgan said flatly. "Our other option is to hide here and wait for it to find us instead. Does that sound any better?"

"Alright, lady, no need to get sarcastic. That's my job."

Haru picked up Muta and bundled him into her arms. She tried to ignore the way her legs were screaming at her for her awkward kneeling. "Muta, play nicely. Now," she said, looking over at Morgan, "when do we make our move?"

Morgan glanced back, quickly picking out the typhon that the rest dare not search for. "It's about as far away as it's going to get in here. Let's go."

Haru gently set Muta back onto his paws – he didn't even complain about being picked up in the first place, which warned her that even he was uneasy – and leant forward onto her arms to take some weight off her aching legs. Pins and needles shot up her calves, and she wiggled her toes to ease feeling back into them. When she was sure she wasn't about to topple over, she followed Morgan in an ungainly shuffle behind the workbench.

Her companions were silent. In comparison, Haru felt unfairly clumsy, her ears picking up each little scuffle of her boots across the tiled floor. She couldn't even hear the sound of the supposed typhon that infested the room.

Slowly, step by step, the exit inched closer. When they came to the last bout of cover between them and the door, Morgan halted. She motioned for the others to stay hidden, and then she crept over to the panel to punch in the code.

Baron knelt down beside Haru, his eyes questioning how she was faring. She nodded back to show she was coping, and then glanced up when she heard the swish of the door opening. "That's our cue," she whispered.

She rose to her feet and started for the door and that's when her legs gave way beneath her.

Too sudden a movement, too abrupt the weight, and her legs remembered the abuse they'd suffered under the attack of the dinosaur Creation. They crumpled beneath her and she gave a yelp even as Baron caught her. She held onto those arms, aware that she was shaking.

"Haru–"

A shadow fell over them, and Haru felt the presence of something floating behind them. She turned and looked up into the white eye of the telepath.

It was made of the same black substance as the other typhons, but now it was a writhing mass of tendrils curled in upon itself, centring around a single bright light. Spitting distance or in the same room distance, it made no difference now. She could have reached out and touched it.

The light shifted, running along its entire form and darkening to purple.

"Run," she breathed.

Baron started to propel her towards the door – the tantalisingly close door – and Haru wanted to believe they could make it in time, but she knew her body. She knew the feel of shock in her bones and the shake in her limbs. She weakly tried to shrug out of Baron's grip. "I said _run_ ," she repeated.

"If you think–"

Haru never got to hear what he thought, because at that exact moment, the telepath fired.

She didn't see it hit her; she only saw the light release and then agony slamming through her head. She screamed and her whole body spasmed. She felt Baron lose hold of her, and through the pain her hands found Baron's jacket. She pushed him away and dropped to the ground, the pain receding to be replaced with a terrible numbness, and when she finally stood again, it wasn't her own doing.

ooOoo

Morgan hauled Baron out of the greenhouse and slammed the door shut. As Baron went for the closing exit, she dragged him further back.

"What are you doing?" he snarled, the growl scarily realistic for an Operator. Whoever had made this one had really had their work cut out.

"I'm saving your life and hers!" Morgan snapped back. "If you go back in there, the telepath might register you as a threat, and then it'll force Haru to attack. Do you want her to end up like the body we found on the other side of the greenhouse?"

That was enough to make the Operator pause. He stood there for a moment, his chest still rising and falling with the mimicry of rapid breaths. Again, whoever had made him had been sure to imitate life to its fullest. Then, very quietly, he asked, "What do you mean?"

"I mean that attacking humans under the influence of telepaths tend to, literally, have their minds blown. We think it's something to do with the telepath's power overwhelming them, but the point still stands that if you back in there, your friend will die."

His breathing had shallowed now, pupils dilated. "So what do you suggest?"

"We move on. She'll be fine as long as the telepath doesn't feel threatened."

"That's not good enough."

There was something dangerous in the Operator's soft voice. Enough to make Morgan pause.

"What do you suggest? We haven't got the weapons or technology on us right now to stop either one of the telepath or your friend without risking her life. There's no way we could–" Morgan hesitated for just a moment. "We have to keep going."

"What have you thought of?" the Operator pushed. "You paused – what did you think of?"

Morgan weighed up her options. "The neuromods," she said eventually. "The typhon neuromod, mindjack, could give its recipient the ability to override the telepath's control."

"Give it to me."

Morgan stared. "What?"

The crow Operator hopped uneasily on the other's shoulder. "Baron…"

"The neuromod. Give it to me."

"I… don't think you understand. It won't work for an Operator–"

"I'm not an Operator."

Morgan's breath shallowed, her eyes narrowing as she took in the truth of his words. "You're not, are you? Just what are you?"

"Magic."

"There's no such thing as magic."

He opened his palm and a sphere of light illuminated in his hand. Morgan stared, trying to fit the proof of her eyes within her understanding of reality.

"You're not ignorant, Miss Yu; in fact, I'd hazard a guess that you are very, very intelligent. You called me an Operator because that was the easiest answer, but by now you must have realised that I am something quite other. Something beyond robots and pre-programming. Go on. Figure it out."

"You didn't disagree when I called you manmade."

"Where I come from, even humans can possess magic."

She continued to stare for a long moment, and then she shook her head sharply. "Magic or not, Operator or not, the only thing I can be sure of is that you're not human. There's no guarantee the neuromod would work, or even if it wouldn't have an adverse effect on you. I'm sorry, but I can't give it to you."

"And I'm sorry, but we're not leaving Haru."

"You're going to get us all killed."

"I've already lost Haru once. I won't do it again."

A silence stretched out between them, heavy even in the humid heat. Morgan closed her eyes in defeat. "I should just let you go and get on with saving the rest of the station," she muttered. "You're not my priority." She groaned and wheeled away, pausing only to reserve a glare for the group. "After this, we go straight to my brother's office," she said, and she pulled the neuromod installer out of her bag. She hoisted the helmet off her head and, with uncanny surety, plunged the needle into her eye.

Muta made a retching sound, and even Toto and Baron flinched and glanced away.

When they looked back, the installer was being slotted away and Morgan was rapidly blinking.

"And that's it?" Toto asked. "That's all you need to do to learn a whole new skill?"

"All ya need to do?" Muta echoed. "Didn't ya see the lady slam a syringe into her eye? That's just plain nasty."

"If you'll give me a moment…" Morgan blinked again, and finally her eyes found focus in Baron's direction. "She better be worth it."

"She is."

Morgan only slipped her helmet back on before opening up the greenhouse door and slipping back inside.

Inside was quiet, and as she knelt down behind a counter, her rapid heartbeat seemed to be all that she could hear. She exhaled deeply, trying to steady herself. This was stupid. Stupid and reckless. Had she always been so prone to helping complete strangers? Maybe the naysayers had been right; maybe the neuromods did cause personality drift.

She pushed those thoughts away. Personality drift or no, she was here now, in the same room as a telepath and with an alien neuromod installed into her brain. It was a little late to turn back now.

When her heart calmed, she slowly raised herself up.

The mind controlled human was lurching across the room, her head a swirling mass of darkness. It ran through her whole body, pouring out through her mouth and clotting her breath. As Morgan approached, the other woman turned. Dark brown eyes – human eyes, still human – fixed on her.

"No," the woman breathed. More black smoked dripped from her lips. "No, stay back. Please…"

She juddered towards Morgan, even as she shook her head.

"Please, I don't… I don't want to hurt you…"

"I know," Morgan said. "And you won't."

Morgan subconsciously brushed a hand against her gun. If this didn't work… if her calculations had been wrong, then she had a backup. Not one that the others would like, but one that would stop her own demise. There were things bigger than they could possibly understand.

Fortunately, Morgan was rarely wrong.

"I'm sorry," Morgan said, "but this is going to hurt like hell." She kicked up the latent power that the new neuromod had set into place, low humming rising in her ears and then collapsing in on itself with a soft _whump_ as she expelled it towards the woman.

The woman swayed for a long moment, a gasp half-formed on those blackened lips, and then she crumpled. "Sorry," Morgan repeated, and she hoisted the woman over her shoulder.

There was a crackle of white light and then the sensation of something soft smacking into the back of her head. She reached back and felt sparks snapping along her helmet.

"Aw hell."

She ran for the exit even as the telepath came in pursuit. A wave of psychic energy toppled a stand of plants. Morgan skidded past it and ran through the open door.

"SHUT IT SHUT IT SHUT IT!" she yelled and another blast rattled the door as it slid closed.

Baron stared balefully at her, one hand on the door switch. "You could have caught her."

"I could have also walked away and left her to her fate," Morgan reminded him. She heaved Haru down, and the not-Operator gently lifted her into his arms. Morgan wasn't quite sure what the norm was where this group came from, but she could see the way he looked at the young woman.

The crow peered down from where he sat on Baron's shoulder. "Is she okay?"

"She'll be fine, I expect," Morgan said. "She still has her head, right? And the telepath's hold has broken." She waved a hand over the Haru's face. "Look. No black smoke. She's doing great, all things considered. Now, I believe we have a nullifier to set?"

"Thank you."

Morgan paused and looked back at the bizarre little group. Baron was still holding Haru, and there was a tiredness borne of relief in his limbs. He looked up at her. "I can't lose her again."

"Then maybe you should have through about that before jumping into this chaos," she replied, not unkindly. She rose to her feet and started for a building set at the centre of the Arboretum, but when her legs passed through a dense patch of Coral, she froze.

"Miss Yu?" That was the crow, her mind distantly informed her. "Miss Yu, are you alright?"

She breathed in quick succession, the Arboretum falling away from her and flashes of images and sounds playing through her mind. She staggered forward and when she passed the Coral, the world silenced.

"Miss Yu? Morgan Yu!"

Morgan snapped out of it, the world falling back into place. She looked back. "Be careful of the Coral, it seems to have…" She trailed off as she saw that the others were standing amid the Coral to apparently no effect.

Still balancing Haru in his arms, Baron tentatively reached out to steady Morgan. "Is everything okay? You went quite white there for a moment."

"Did none of you see that?"

"See what, Miss Yu?"

"The lights. And the voices. And the emotions." And as she spoke, more of that fragmented second came back to her. The world had been gold threads, punctuated by familiar words, voices of people she knew. And then there had been the emotions – or maybe that wasn't the right word. It had been a sensation – the feeling of otherness, of being connected… "Perhaps it doesn't affect your kind," she said. "Perhaps this is a sign the typhon are growing stronger."

"Perhaps," Baron agreed.

ooOoo

Haru woke to the feeling of familiar arms around her, rocking her gently with steady steps. She looked up into Baron's face.

"What…? What happened?"

He met her gaze, relief flooding into his eyes. "You're awake," he breathed.

"And aching," she added. She rubbed at her temples. "I feel like someone has driven a bus through one ear and out the other."

"Better that than the alternative."

"What – oh." She winced. "Okay, yeah. Now it's coming back to me. How…? How did you free me?"

Baron nodded towards Morgan, who was leading them. "She used a typhon neuromod to release the telepath's hold."

Haru frowned. "But doesn't she need to have all the typhon neuromods removed before using the nullifier device?"

"Nullwave Device," Morgan amended, "and yes." She didn't look back. "Neuromod removal can only be done by professionals. Luckily, my brother is one such person."

"And you're sure he's in his office?"

"Communication is down, but in the event of a typhon outbreak such as this, my brother would have gone straight for the one item that could stop the typhon. Which is in his office."

"In that case, why hasn't he used it already?"

"I don't know. We'll ask him that when we find him." Morgan keyed in the office passcode, and the door slid smoothly open to reveal... another trashed room.

"Geez, guess it runs in the family," Muta said as he plodded in after Morgan.

Haru tapped Baron's arm, and he gently set her back on her feet. The room beyond indeed bore some resemblance to Morgan's office, bar two features. One: Someone had obviously tried, half-heartedly, to reclaim some order. The slashed furniture had been set back into place, the glass from the smashed Looking Glass swept up, and the shelves were empty, cleared of all debris.

Two: There was a rusted patch of brown across the floor before the desk.

Haru's stomach turned, but there was no body to be seen. "Is that," she whispered, "blood?"

Morgan went straight for the desk, logging in to the computer, and quickly scanning through the files. Haru couldn't see what she was reading – it looked like emails – but her face was blanching. She closed down the emails and went through the document log.

"The most recent file on here is from several days back," Morgan said.

"Maybe your brother hasn't had much time for computer work, what with all this going on," Haru suggested.

"Maybe," Morgan said, but she didn't sound convinced. She clicked on the file, and a video popped up on screen.

The same man from the Looking Glass video – Alex – sat before the computer. He looked older than before. Tired. His elbows were on the desk, his lower face resting against his clasped hands.

Through the windows in the video, the Arboretum could be seen beyond. It was a sea of gold.

" _We've made a mistake_ ," Alex said. " _We thought the typhon neuromods would react the same way as human neuromods. We had run simulations. We had supported theories. We thought we had stripped away any residual typhon fragments, save for their powers._ " He stared off at a point beyond the camera, looking but not really seeing. " _We were wrong_."

There was a scream in the background. Alex closed his eyes against it, and when he opened them there was only resignation.

" _This is a warning to anyone who finds this video: shut down the typhon neuromod program. Hell, maybe shut down the neuromod program entirely, while you're at it. What we're doing here – what we've unleashed – can never reach Earth_."

Another scream, closer this time, and accompanied by the sound of breaking glass. Only the miniscule flicking of his eyes to one side betrayed he'd heard it at all.

" _The typhon appear to communicate through a network known as Coral_ ," Alex continued. " _And when a human installs a typhon neuromod, this grants them access to it. The typhon start to see the human as one of their own_." Alex paused before continuing. " _And, eventually, the human will identify themselves as typhon also._ "

A shadow appeared behind the windows.

This typhon was like a phantom – humanoid, but more so than the previous one they had encountered. The shoulders weren't as broad, the arms less spindly, the angles of the face sharp. As Alex saw it in the video he was recording, he took a sudden breath.

" _I'm sorry, Morgan_."

Alex snatched up a gun from the desk and rose to his feet, already spinning to face the creature – when there was the sound of ripping flesh.

Through the glass, a single spear of dark tendril had pierced, running from the typhon's hand and impaling through Alex's chest.

For a long moment, the only sound was Alex's gagging. The gun slipped from his grasp and clattered to the floor. When the tendril retracted, he slumped alongside it.

More shouts started up. People armed, security it looked like, surrounded the typhon. A woman – with the same voice as the SOS that had brought the Bureau here – motioned sharply to her team. "Remember, non-lethal force! We want to bring her in alive!"

The video froze. Morgan's hand was across the keyboard.

"I did it," she whispered. "It's my fault."

"We don't know–" Haru started, but Morgan shook her head.

"The typhon neuromods turned me into that… _thing_. I must have lost control, become more monster than human… I probably caused the outbreak of typhon while I was at it." She glanced up, up at the starlit space above. "My brother is gone… and it's all my fault."

"Morgan…"

"God, I hated him sometimes, but he was still my brother. He was my brother, and now he's gone."

Haru gently reached out, but Morgan flinched back.

"Don't touch me. Don't…" Her eyes glistened. She shook the unshed tears away and began rifling through the empty drawers. "We need to find the Nullwave Device before the typhon infestation reaches Earth. We have to… We need to…" She released a screech of frustration and slammed them shut. "And it's not here!"

"Where will it have been taken?" Toto asked.

"How should I know? Could be anywhere on this forsaken station, and we don't have the time to search every corner."

Morgan's phone device bleeped, and a familiar voice monotoned through it.

" _I did tell you that the only way to end this is to destroy Talos 1._ "

"Thanks, January. Real great timing there. Have you been watching us this entire time?"

" _Monitoring_ ," January amended. " _Morgan, without your brother to remove the typhon neuromod, you would very possibly die even if you did find and use the Nullwave Device. Why is that way any different from destroying Talos 1?_ "

Morgan scowled. "There are at least fifty people still aboard this station."

" _And billions on Earth,_ " January said. " _You would risk that for a handful of lives?_ "

"You're me, right? Shouldn't you already know the answer?"

" _I know who you were. Now, however, is a different matter_." There was the sound of whirring from the other end of the line. " _Oh, and watch out. There are typhon heading your way_."

"Heading our way?" Morgan echoed. "There are typhon everywhere on this station, that's what an infestation _is_. Oh, and that's the end of the call, apparently. Typical. Thanks for the update, you useless pile of junk."

"Can't we talk to them?" Haru asked.

"Who?"

"The typhon?"

"There's no talking to the typhon," Morgan said. "They have no speech of their own, no language. They don't even seem to see us. Not like we see ourselves, I mean. They probably don't even register killing us as murder, if they have such a concept as that. Why would they, if they don't consider us alive?"

"But have you _tried_?" Haru persisted.

"Sure, but the conversation stops pretty quickly after the typhon drains whichever human has stepped forward. Amazingly, murder cools any desire for communication."

Something banged against the door.

"Talking of which…" Morgan hustled them behind a cabinet.

"Oh, great. A cabinet. I'm sure this will be a great protection against the butt-ugly monsters at the door," Muta said.

Haru nudged him.

"They shouldn't be able to get through the door," Morgan said. "If we're out of sight, they should forget us and go back to terrorising the rest of the Arboretum."

"Are you sure?"

"Look, I didn't say they were _smart_. Just dangerous."

The banging continued. Haru sneaked a glance around to see three phantoms gathering at the door. "It doesn't look like they're giving up to me."

Morgan hesitated, and then the tenor of the banging changed. Now it was the sound of fists on glass.

"Okay, so you said they won't be able to get through the door," Baron said, "but how about the windows?"

"This isn't right," Morgan murmured. "They should have moved on by now. Why…?"

"Maybe they know what you're trying to do?" Haru offered. "With the Nullwave Device and all."

"That's impossible. Nothing's changed, they shouldn't know–" Morgan cut herself off, her back suddenly straightening with newfound realisation. "Oh, Morgan Yu, you prize idiot. You absolute numbskull. I have an idea. I'm going to need your help."

"What kind of idea?" Toto asked.

"The kind that's going to end badly if it doesn't work out." She flashed a smile. "Don't worry, I'm rarely wrong."

Haru glanced at Baron with a grin. "Now, that sounds familiar."

"Are ya kidding me? His plans always end in disaster."

"When I say run, you're going to want to run," Morgan said. "And trust me."

"Why–"

A volley of bullets slammed into the window on the far side of the room – far from the door – and the glass shattered out. "Run!"

Haru found herself being dragged along behind – but not by Baron. The hands were gloved, but a tougher material than the Creation's. Only as she staggered through the broken window did she register Morgan's hand around her arm.

"What – _the_ _heck_ – are you doing?!" Haru yelled.

Behind, she could hear the phantoms cease their barrage on the other window and start to intercept them.

"The typhon don't see us!" Morgan yelled back. "Not yet, not while we're human." She glanced back to Haru, her grin bright and adrenaline-fuelled. "But I'm not all human anymore!"

Morgan leapt into a thick hub of golden Coral, and Haru felt something akin to an electric current run through Morgan and into her. Haru jolted back, but Morgan's grip was firm.

"What–?"

"I'm sorry, I really am – but you're the only other human here." Morgan blinked, and her eyes were golden now, her voice echoing as the Coral whispered her words back. "I'm sorry, but this is going to hurt." The air filled with the same power she'd drawn on to initially break the telepath's hold, but instead of firing it like a pulse through water, it expanded around them.

There was shouting beyond the Coral. Morgan threw out a hand.

"Stay back! I just need Haru!"

The voices rose further, and Haru tore her gaze from Morgan's golden eyes to Baron's emerald ones. Her lungs felt heavy, as if she was breathing through water. "I'm fine," she said, and even to her ears, her voice sounded… off. Muted. "I can do this."

Morgan's grip tightened, bringing Haru's attention back to her. "With my mindjack powers, I can act as a bridge between you and the typhon while in the coral, but it's your mind they're feeling. I need you to show us. I need you to make them _see_ us."

Haru nodded. "Do it."

Morgan nodded back, and there was pity in her shining eyes. "Thank you," she said, and then the air turned electric around them.

Haru threw back her head and, distantly, she was aware her mouth was open and sound streaming from it, but all she could see was gold. Golden eyes and golden strands and golden fur…

Baron.

Amid the sea, she latched onto that thought, that memory, and she felt something latch onto her mind along with it. Baron at the Bureau, that very first day. Tripping over her own feet as she discovered a world far bigger than she'd ever imagined. Awe and wonder, and just that little trickle of fear. Fish crackers and catnip jelly and waltzes on an accordion.

Older now, tripping back into the Bureau with horror stories of wild birds on her tail. Fear and nerves again, and then returning excitement. Worlds spun past her – bird kingdoms and Wonderland and the realms of mad scientists – and with every turn, her heart beat faster.

Slower moments lingered by. The moments between the adventures; the movie nights with Hiromi, the dates with Michael, the cups of tea with the Bureau. The moments where she allowed herself to just _be_ , to feel everything.

The way she felt with Baron.

Darkness crashed through. A year of silence pierced through her mind, and now suddenly it wasn't so silent anymore. She saw dragons and undead monsters and burning ships. Death overtook her time and time again, the Bureau so close, but always that little too late.

The heat of flames. Burning.

An arrow through her chest, a stake through her heart.

A hundred broken bones, her lungs collapsing, collapsed. Tarmac beneath her, now warm with blood.

She was screaming, she could hear it now. Her throat hurt – her throat, her _lungs_ , working again – and someone was tearing her away from Morgan's grip. Gloved hands. Familiar hands.

"–did you do to her?"

"It's only her memories! I didn't imagine that she would have so many so–"

Haru felt Baron start to move towards Morgan. She clawed a hand up to the glove about her shoulders and squeezed it. "Did it work?" she rasped. The world was still golden, they still stood among the coral, and beyond it was the shadow of typhons. "Have they stopped?"

Morgan was pale – if from Baron's ire or the toll of the mindjack power, Haru wasn't sure – but she waved a shaky hand outwards. "Well, we're still alive, aren't we?"

_Alive, dead, she had died so many times…_

Haru heaved a juddering breath in and attempted to straighten. Baron's grip shifted to her arms to steady her, even as she leant back against him. Beyond the coral stood the phantoms that had pursued them. Unmoving, their faced turned to her. They stepped forward, and Baron's grip turned sharp.

"Wait," Haru murmured.

Morgan moved towards the phantoms, a hand raised. The nearest phantom mimicked the action, its own hand separating into tendrils which curled around Morgan's hand and arm. Morgan stiffened, but didn't back out of the strange handshake. When they released her, Morgan exhaled and turned back to Haru.

"It worked," she said. "And… I'm sorry."

"You did warn me it was going to hurt," Haru said weakly.

Morgan smiled sadly, and in such a way that Haru suspected that wasn't what she was apologising for. "If you want to get back to your ship now, I won't stop you," she said instead.

Muta chuckled. "Yeah, anybody got any plans for how we're getting back?"

"Actually," Toto said, "I may have an idea."

ooOoo

It was quiet once again in the lobby of Talos 1. Life was beginning to return to the space station as news reached the survivors that the typhon outbreak had been resolved, but it hadn't yet reached the lobby, and Morgan had been pulled away to act as interpreter between human and alien.

The Bureau had slipped away unnoticed.

"So, we're back where we started," Muta drawled. "Is this your big idea, cause I gotta tell you, I've seen better."

Toto ignored Muta's comment. "Haru, when we passed by this area earlier, you acted as though you could see something. Can you see any sign of where we entered into this world?"

Haru pointed to a spot about two metres off the floor. "There's a glimmer of green up there, where we originally fell through." She glanced about to the rest. "Can't you see it?"

"No."

"None of you? Really?"

"Haru, what I believe you can see is a portal scar. When a portal is made, it rips a hole through realities to allow us to pass through, but it's very possible it leaves a mark, even when closed," Toto said.

"No."

The rest looked to Baron, his face drawn tight.

"I hate to agree with the birdbrain, but maybe he's got a point. Chicky has got portal-powers – seems logical the thing only she can see would be something portal too."

Baron didn't remove his gaze from Toto. "I know where you're going with this, and it's a no. She can't open a portal back; she's too weak."

"Wait, what? I can do that?"

"Possibly," Toto said. "You can't make your own portals, but since your power is in opening existing ones…"

"Toto…"

"I'll do it."

"Haru–"

"I want to go home, Baron. I'm sure this world is amazing, but I want to go back to my own home, my own bed, and take a really long nap," Haru said, "and if Toto is right, then we have a way to do that right here. We have to try."

"Haru, you can barely stand–"

"Then I'm going to need you to hold me." She stepped directly beneath the portal scar. It was like a spiderweb catching the light. Only if she looked at it the right way, in the right moment, would she be able to see the sheen of green suspended through the air. She looked back to Baron. "Well?"

He sighed and stood by her, one hand on her shoulder. "I'll catch you if you fall."

"Good. Because, honestly, I'm pretty sure there's like an 85% chance of that happening." She nodded over to Muta and Toto. "The rest of you might want to get a little closer. I'm not sure I'll be able to control this portal when it opens."

The other two quickly shuffled in, Toto landing on her shoulder and Muta standing on her toes. Haru didn't comment, because between stepped toes and possibly leaving Muta behind, stepped toes didn't seem too bad.

"Alright. Let's get this roller coaster working." She raised her hands up and felt the crack between realities. She pulled at it, but it wouldn't budge. Figures. Of course it wouldn't be that easy. She tore her fingers along the fault line, feeling it but unable to rip it open. She was about to suggest they try something else when an idea occurred to her.

She dropped a hand into her pocket and brought out a golden ring. It was the same golden ring she had acquired from the Louise in the parallel world, almost identical to the golden ring she had once possessed in her reality until she lost it when the Louise of _her_ world attacked.

She hesitated before she placed it onto her finger. Sometimes it struck her just how convoluted her life was.

She shook the thought away and settled the ring around her finger. Unlike the ring from her reality, it didn't whisk her away to the Wood Between Worlds the moment it touched her bare skin. In fact, it hadn't seemed to do anything since she returned back to her world. The magic was there – she could feel it swirling in the ring's golden depths – but it didn't seem to activate, not even against her portal magic.

But maybe if the way back was already half opened…

She dug her fingers into the green shimmer, and this time her nails slipped down into the scar. The ring felt warm on her skin, and when she wretched her hands apart, the scar came loose with it. A whirling storm of green opened. Another tug of her magic, and the portal drew them in, dragging them through and spitting them out onto a sandy floor.

Haru looked up to see the bright blue sky and emerald-green canopy of the Wood Between Worlds, and she groaned as the between-world's magic muddled her head. "Well," she said at last, "it's not home. Hey, Baron, time to catch me."

And she fainted.

**ooOoo**

**Based on:** _**Prey (2017) the game. Developed by Arkane Studios and produced by Bethesda Softworks.** _

_**Also, I am aware that Morgan can be played as either male/female, and people usually refer to them as they/them/non-binary. I decided to side with she/her for this, however, because I didn't want the first NB character I wrote to be revealed as part-monster. Hopefully that's understandable.** _

**ooOoo**

**Next Story:** _**The Bureau's Holiday** _

**Teaser:** _**"I want to get to know them," Naoko said. "This Bureau you seem so enamoured with." / "Ms Yoshioka, Miss Hiromi, I welcome you to the spirits' winter festival." / In the lantern light of his shop, the toymaker watched the visitors pass by. Mortals.** _ **Humans** _**. He smiled and leant back in his seat. Yes. They'd do. / "You're asking," Hiromi murmured back, "if I want to set up my best friend with a cat doll?" / "I had a friend called Renaldo Moon once. A long time ago."** _


	5. Episode 5: The Bureau's Holiday (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In an attempt to give the Bureau and Haru's mother a chance to get to know one another better - and prove that everything isn't all running and chaos - the Bureau take Naoko and Hiromi to a spirit festival to show them the sunnier side of their lives. Also included in this case: small-time celebrities, setting a best friend up with a cat doll, and bad cat pun names.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Heya folks, Cat here. I hate to have to do this, but this is just a gentle plea to please review/comment if you enjoy reading this story. I'm aware these episodes are long, especially last week's, but it was really disappointing to not receive a single piece of feedback on here or FFnet for the previous episode.
> 
> I know we're all going through a weird, tough time with covid19 and reviewing is very low on the priority list right now, but please leave feedback if you can. These stories take time and effort, and one of the most rewarding parts is hearing from you guys, and lets me know what to focus on in the future. That's what keeps us writers writing :)
> 
> Anyway, that's the awkward part out of the way. Now enjoy the chapter! 
> 
> Cat.

_The Bureau Files: Series 5_

**ooOoo**

**Episode 5: The Bureau's Holiday (Part 1)**

Naoko lingered at the bedroom door of her daughter.

Haru had never been a naturally early-riser, although that didn't stop her trying, but she had rarely slept beyond midday without cause.

Her daughter was so tired nowadays. Sure, when she was running from one case to the next, she was full of energy with a gleam in her eyes that was the only reason Naoko hadn't condemned the Bureau's antics altogether. But it was in the in-between moments, the quiet moments, in which the toll seemed to creep up on her. She'd disappear – sometimes for just an afternoon, sometimes for days on end – and, after Naoko had worried that something awful had happened, would return with tales of adventure and monsters and a limp in her step and a haunting in her eyes.

Naoko knew her daughter wasn't telling her everything that happened on her adventures. But then again, she remembered what it was like to be young. If Naoko had done the same thing in her youth, she probably would have kept a few of the worse details from her parents too.

Still. It didn't stop her worrying.

She perched on the end of her daughter's bed, and Haru stirred. She blinked and her eyes focused slowly on Naoko. Her skin was so pale.

"Hey, Mum," she croaked. She winced. "Water. Darn it, how long was I out?"

"You've slept for nearly 16 hours," Naoko informed her. She offered a glass of water from the side and watched as Haru downed it. "You still haven't told me what happened."

Haru pushed herself up, a little of her colour already returning. "I told you. Space. Aliens. Space station. Hey, I got to go out into space, isn't that amazing?" That same gleam returned to her gaze. "Okay, so I didn't actually get to go out _into_ space, and I could have been walking around inside a very fancy building because of the artificial gravity, but still. _Space_."

"And the aliens?" Naoko prompted.

"Oh. Big, ugly things with tentacles. Well, more like tendrils, I suppose, but tentacles sound weirder. There was one that could mimic ordinary objects, and another that could control minds – oh, and they communicated through this kind of golden neural web that was stretched through the station. That's how we were able to talk to them, to get them to understand us."

Naoko didn't miss the almost imperceptible hesitation in Haru's voice as she described the aliens, and Naoko didn't doubt that her daughter had skimmed over some of the more unsavoury details to spare her worrying. It didn't work, but she wasn't about to tell Haru that.

Instead, she moved onto the other reason she had woken her daughter.

"Also, the Bureau… what do they eat?"

Haru blinked, like it was a little too early to be jumping topics so quickly. "Um, food?"

"Well, I don't know, do I? They're magical toys, they could eat grass and woodchippings for all I know."

Haru snorted. "Just… food. Although Baron does like his tea, and Toto's quite fond of fruit, and Muta will eat any sort of food, especially cake. He seems to have a particular weakness for angel food cake, though." She paused, and then looked at her mother anew. "Why?"

Naoko sighed. "Look, I don't have to pretend that I like what you're doing. It's dangerous and foolish…" She held up a hand to stave off Haru's protests. "You can't argue it isn't dangerous and foolish. But… it's also your life and your decision. So I want to get to know them. This Bureau you seem so enamoured with."

Haru didn't exactly meet her eyes there, and Naoko wondered if she had hit the nail directly on the head with her 'enamoured' comment. She decided against thinking about it too much.

"I didn't think you liked the Bureau," Haru said.

"I don't," Naoko said, "but you do. So this is me, offering to open conversation with them. Let's sit down and have dinner, or something." She thought of the average size of the Bureau members. "I'll make small portions."

Naoko swayed back as Haru abruptly engulfed her in a hug. "Thank you! You have no idea what it means to me."

Naoko chuckled. "I have an inkling, otherwise I wouldn't be offering. So, dinner?"

Haru grinned. "Sure. But don't worry about the small portions. I have an even better idea."

ooOoo

"A holiday?"

"Well, not exactly. More like we go somewhere that's not for business. Another world where my mother can meet you at, well, an easier height than one-foot-nothing."

"You mean _Baron_ at an easier height."

"I mean all of you, Muta. Well, maybe not Toto, unless there's a world where you'll be more human-sized, but…"

"But a giant crow might not be the least intimidating option," Toto finished. "Understood. Anyway, I generally prefer to be at a size where I can flap my wings without dislodging a wall."

"I'm sure the Cat Kingdom would be more than happy to oblige in entertaining us for a day."

"Great!" Haru hesitated. "Actually, is there somewhere we can go where we won't get served raw fish and be surrounded by mad cats?"

"As far as insanity goes, the previous Cat King was somewhat an outlier–"

"We're famous in the Cat Kingdom! I didn't realise before because I've either been meeting just Yuki or Lune, or recovering after a case, but last time I went out into the town and nearly got mobbed! We're small-time celebrities there!"

"We _did_ have a large part to play in Lune becoming king," Baron reminded her. She stared at him and he nodded his defeat, "But a less conspicuous visit might be more appropriate for your mother's first outing."

"What's wrong, Chicky? Don't you want yer mam to know you saved a kingdom?"

"Not when I was fifteen, I don't! Look, I just want a nice, calm day out where we can see a world with, I don't know, a double-sunset or something. Something definitely other-worldly but also not overwhelming."

"Without the Sanctuary, we probably will still need to pass through the Cat Kingdom to get to another world," Toto said. "It'll be the most secure way."

"Even with Natoru controlling the portals?" Haru asked resignedly.

"Even with Natoru controlling the portals."

She groaned. "Fine. But he better not embarrass me."

ooOoo

"It's just such an honour to meet the mother of the famous Miss Haru!" Natoru gushed, shaking Naoko's hand with overt delight.

On the sidelines, Haru leant over to Baron. "You promised he wouldn't embarrass me," she muttered.

"If I recall correctly," he murmured back, "I promised no such thing."

"You said he wouldn't do this."

" _Probably_. I said he _probably_ wouldn't do this."

"Did you believe that?"

"Did _you_?"

Haru sagged. "No. But I still hoped."

Hiromi, who had accepted the invitation for a day with the Bureau that didn't consist of monsters, watched the proceedings with evident mirth. "Miss Haru," she said, mimicking the lilt of Natoru's greeting, "you never told me you were _famous_."

"I'm not sure this counts," Haru protested.

"I've been best friends with a celebrity – nay, a _hero_ – and I didn't even know. Quick, take a selfie with me!"

Haru snorted and pushed Hiromi away as she tried to snap a picture with her phone. "Get off, you oaf."

"If I get it framed, will you sign it?"

"Don't give anyone any ideas." She had invited Michael along as well, but he declined on the premise that he remembered the last time they took a holiday together, and he felt like any holiday with the Bureau would probably end with more chaos. Haru couldn't exactly deny that, and right now she was just relieved that she wasn't being embarrassed in front of _everyone_ she cared about. "Natoru," she called. " _Natoru_ , didn't you say you had the portal set up?"

The small tan cat flustered and eventually remembered to stop shaking Naoko's hand. "Oh, of course. Right. Right this way, Miss Haru and Miss Haru's friends and family."

With relief at finally reclaiming her hand, Naoko joined her daughter's side. Her eyes still roamed the sandy walls of the palace, occasionally sticking on the cats that passed by, and Haru had to remind herself that human-sized cats were not an everyday occurrence for most.

"So you've been here before?" Naoko asked.

Haru nodded. "A few times. I kind of, accidentally, got involved with putting the current Cat King on the throne," she admitted, sensing that the cat was just a little out of the bag on that. "But that worked out great and now I'm kind of a big thing here, apparently."

As if to prove her point, the tabby cat setting up the portal stared as they entered the room. Haru hoped it was because their group consisted of three humans, a cat in a suit and top hat, another cat who was once renowned as the worst criminal in Cat history, and a crow. The way the tabby cat's ears perked as Natoru announced them, however, made her doubt it.

"Miss Haru? So it's true – the first royal kitten was named after you!" Haru found her hand being shaken, and she had to do everything not to wince. "So cool! I always thought it was weird."

Haru's already-weak smile waned. "Uh, thanks?"

"Not naming the kitten after you – but, you know, the name," the tabby clarified. "But it is just so great to actually meet you. I mean, everyone knows what you did, but, you know, it's one thing to hear the stories, and another thing to actually meet the human."

"That's, um, great, Miss…"

"Oh! Clementine! Miss Clementine. I was actually born in the Human World, but ever since King Lune took over, they've been hiring cats from out of the kingdom, and I gotta say, this place is so much nicer than the Human World – no offence, but it's not exactly always great if you're a cat–"

"Miss Clementine," Baron said, finally coming to Haru's rescue, "I believe you were setting up a portal for us?"

"Oh, of course! Oh, and you must be the Baron." Before Baron could respond, the tabby cat moved round to Muta and started shaking his paw. "And you're Renaldo Moon – the Renaldo Moon! Is it true you ate all the fish in the kingdom?"

While Baron looked a little disappointed that Clementine hadn't wanted to shake his hand, Muta's whole form was uncomfortable. He mumbled something that wasn't entirely intelligible.

Come to think of it, Haru realised, he had barely spoken a word since arriving at the Cat Kingdom. Or, to be more exact, upon her mother joining them. Haru glanced to Naoko, but if Naoko had reacted to hearing the name of a long-gone friend, she had missed it.

Toto seemed to catch the uncomfortable atmosphere, for in a rare moment of solidarity with Muta, he gently prompted the tabby with, "Miss Clementine, the portal?"

"Oh, yeah! Hang on, I've got it almost all set up, I just need to now…" The tabby sprang back to what appeared to be a large empty archway in the middle of the room, and tapped her paw systematically on the crystal stone set into its base. Haru remembered a time when they had a similar setup in the Bureau, but that had vanished alongside the Sanctuary. "Ah-ha! All ready for you."

The air under the arch shimmered, and then took on a clear sheen, like a silk sheet rippling in a breeze.

"Now, this portal will reopen again just after midnight, so you should have plenty of time to enjoy your time there," Clementine said, almost sounding professional now. "If you don't return by then, we'll open the portal once every hour after that for the next six hours."

"And if we don't return by then?" Toto asked.

Clementine grinned. "How hard are you planning on partying? Oh, and hey, you'd better get going before the portal shuts – if I have to restart it, it could take ages. Get going."

Haru frowned. Clementine hadn't exactly given them an answer, but she was right in one regard – the portal was beginning to wobble. Knowing exactly how temperamental portals could be, she took a run at it, reclaiming her mother's hand and pulling her through the shimmering curtain.

Her feet sank down into lush green grass the moment she stepped through, dimly lit by the sinking sun and the portal so uncannily smooth it was almost like stepping from one room to another.

She almost tripped in the process.

A hand caught her elbow and she turned to see Baron steadying her. She blushed. "I'm not used to portals where you don't have to land after going through them."

He grinned back at her. "We do seem to have a bad record where portals are concerned."

"You don't say." The last few slivers of sunlight slipped over the horizon, and darkness began to draw in, pulling long shadows on the faded painted _Torii_ gates that punctuated the dry dirt path before them. Behind them a larger shadow loomed. Haru glanced back, but it was only an old wooden building, painted the same tired red with a broken clock face at its pinnacle. From the glimmer in the dark doorway, it appeared the portal had opened up where a door had once been.

"Okay," Haru murmured, "so I should I have asked this before now, but where exactly are we?" She looked over the setting before her. More tired buildings sagged on the horizon. She moved closer to Baron and added, "I mean, I trust you, but are we taking my mother to an abandoned theme park?"

Baron chuckled. "Not at all. We're in a spirit world." He gently tugged her hand and the group started up the grassy hill. Round boulders, carved with worn faces, seemed to watch their procession.

"The spirit world?" Haru asked.

"Just one of many," he amended. "Every year, spirits gather for a winter festival here."

"You'd think they'd bother to clean the place up every once in a while then," Haru muttered. "Also, I'm just going to check up on my Mum and Hiromi, just reassure them everything's going as planned." She gave his hand one last squeeze before dropping back to the other two humans. Hiromi looked about as unimpressed as Haru had done, while Naoko looked like she was still getting to grips with human-sized felines. "Everything okay?"

"Haru… where are we?" Naoko asked.

"A spirit world. Apparently there's some sort of festival being held here tonight."

"Is that safe?"

"Sure." Haru decided against adding that her bar for what constituted 'safe' was probably a fair bit lower than that of her mother's. "I mean, as safe as any festival is."

"It doesn't look very magical," Hiromi said. "When you said day out with the Bureau, I was thinking lights, magic, you know, some kind of _pizzazz_."

"You've definitely been spending too much time with the Bureau," Haru deadpanned, but she had been thinking along the same lines. And then, as the darkness deepened, a ball of floating blue light appeared. Haru halted. "Well, there's your lights and magic, Hiromi."

More lights brightened into being now, hovering between the Torii gates and suddenly lighting up the path ahead. To her surprise, she saw Baron up ahead hesitate. He murmured something, and then shot a look back. "It's starting – we need to go – _now_!"

Of course they couldn't enjoy a leisurely walk down, Haru thought. Still, she upped her pace, grabbing her mother's hand and prompting her along.

They crested the brow of the hill, and an abandoned street came into view beyond. The lights had travelled up to the hill and then ended, stopping at a course of large round boulders that separated the dirt path from worn stone steps. A trickle of water was all that remained of a once busy river. Baron and Muta were already hopping across, even Muta navigating the river boulders with ease.

"I don't really see what all the rush is about," Haru gasped as she hopped up onto the remains of the river. This was ridiculous. She knew she had been in better shape before – but her body had been in suspended sleep for a year, so maybe that was to be expected… "So perhaps we're a little late, so what? Is the opening ceremony just that good?"

Baron landed on the far side, Muta not far behind him. "The path closes to mortals once it begins," he called.

"So why didn't we leave a little earlier?"

"Time is somewhat difficult to predict here."

Hiromi had already cleared the dried river in a few hops and leant back to give Naoko a hand. Haru passed her mother forward, her own leg shaking at the awkward angle and slipping down between the boulders. Her foot hit water.

She pulled herself back up, but now she could see that the trickle of water had become a fairly substantial flow. She regained her balance, and now she was the only one still traversing the river remains.

"Uh, Baron?"

"It's fine, Haru; just keep moving."

Fine. Fine, everything was _fine_. She hopped another stone and tried to ignore how it was now slick beneath her feet. She was more than capable of jumping a few rocks. For goodness sake, she had faced down monsters and Creations, if she was going to let a tiny little river crossing get the best of her–

There was a collective gasp from the onlookers. Haru didn't look back. She got the feeling she didn't want to see what was behind her. She leapt forward, plunging onwards before her footing got a grip and she slipped.

Gloved hands caught her arms and Baron pulled her up onto the steps. There was a rush of air behind her that smacked her into his chest and she had to stifle a laugh at the indignity. She leant back, brushing her hair out of her face. "Well. That was suitably embarrassing."

"That was just weird," Hiromi said.

Haru frowned. "What–?" she started, and Baron gently turned her around so she could see the way she'd come.

There were no stones visible now. It was nothing but water – water so wide that the shore on the far side was nothing more than a glimmering dot. She tried to fit that with the dried-up river she'd just crossed, but it wouldn't match up. There was just no way the crossing had been that wide a moment before.

"Okay," she said, "now I'm a little impressed." She hesitated. "What would have happened if I had still been crossing when it changed?"

"Don't worry about it," Baron said.

"Well, _now_ I am." She huffed and turned back to see the street they were now standing at the foot of, only now it didn't look quite so abandoned. Lanterns strung between buildings were now aglow, setting the buildings in a gentle red cast, while the buildings themselves were slowly fading into life. Literally fading. She watched as the previously-empty shop fronts shimmered and shadows almost resembling humans gradually became visible. The scent of food wafted down the street. The sound of life and conversation rose, like someone was turning the volume up on the radio.

She heard soft gasps from her mother and Hiromi, and was relieved to know she wasn't the only one seeing this.

Baron leant subtly towards her. "Still think we're taking your mother to an abandoned theme park?" he whispered.

Haru resisted the urge to elbow him. "Are we safe here?" she whispered back instead. "I mean, you hear stories of people wandering into the spirit world and things going badly. You know, people eating the food and getting trapped or turned into animals or something. My mother's not going to get turned into a pig, is she?"

"I promise you, it's perfectly safe. We're visiting on a festival day; all are welcome tonight." He started towards the closest shop front, which was displaying a range of sweets, some of which looked surprisingly familiar. "Besides," he added, bringing out a small purse of coins from the inside of his jacket, "as long as you pay for the food, nothing bad will happen."

"And if you don't pay for the food?"

He fixed her with a slightly amused look. "Then that is called stealing." He passed over some strange coins to the vender, whose shadowy form had slipped away and now looked almost human – save for the tail sweeping behind him – and received a paper bag in return. He offered it to Haru. "Cake?"

She eyed him and then gingerly took a fish-shaped cake that looked reassuringly like taiyaki she might buy from the Human World. "If this turns me into a fish, I'll never forgive you."

He grinned back. "Don't worry; if you turn into a fish, we've got a ready body of water nearby to keep you in." Before she could shoot back a retort, he moved round the rest of the group to pass out the sweets. Haru bit into her cake, expecting the usual red bean flavour inside and starting when a different type of sweetness hit her palate. A little gasp slipped past her lips as a strange sensation filled her heart.

"You all right, Chicky?"

"What's in that?"

"Ya don't like it?"

"I don't know _what_ it is." Haru sniffed at the cake and tentatively nibbled at the edge. "I mean, it isn't nasty, just… unexpected. I was expecting sweet beans."

Muta leant over to the store front to read the tag. "Yeah, and instead ya got the feeling of when yer favourite song comes on the radio."

Haru licked her lips. "That's… oddly specific. And yet… somehow accurate."

"Cause that's what it is, Chicky."

"Cool. Cool." She took a moment to pass her tongue over her teeth and pick up any stray crumbs, and now she was expecting it, the taste was strangely pleasant. Her heart skipped in that same manner – and then skipped again as an arm curled around her waist. She jolted, and then relaxed when Baron spun her to face him.

She raised an eyebrow. "You could have warned me about the flavours," she lightly admonished. She tapped at the gloved hand. "What's this?"

His brow furrowed, and then all too suddenly he seemed to realise what he had done. He released her and she tried not to show the disappointment at the lost contact. "Sorry, I just… Sorry."

She gave him a questioning smile and patted his arm, trying to ignore the way the feel of his arm around her lingered like a ghost. "Hey, you promised us a festival, and here we are at the entrance, eating cake. And it's good cake… if a little surreal… but one cake does not a festival make."

She could see him refocus, and she was sure that, for a split second, he had forgotten what they were doing there in the first place, and then he smiled that same smile that was always so good at reassuring clients. "Of course." He turned smartly, his heels snapping to attention, and he tilted his hat to the others. "Ms Yoshioka, Miss Hiromi, I welcome you to the spirits' winter festival."

ooOoo

In the lantern light of his shop, the toymaker watched the visitors pass by.

Mortals.

 _Humans_.

He could practically smell the Human World on them, the stench of smoke and metal soaked into their very skin. Even their companions were infected by it. He inhaled, and the scent sent shivers of magic along his fingertips.

Their companions were a complication, but there was a chance they wouldn't linger with the mortals all night. The shopkeeper passed an eye over them.

Immortals, if the aura of their magic was anything to go by. Tricky, but they were young – by spirit standards, anyway. Possibly inexperienced with the spirit world. All it could take was the barest distraction. And tonight was full of distractions.

The toymaker smiled and leant back in his seat, watching the two mortal women.

Yes. They'd do.

ooOoo

Hiromi hadn't been entirely sure what to expect out of tonight, and she still wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but she _was_ enjoying it. She squatted down by what appeared to be a hook-the-duck game, except the ducks in question had teeth and a nasty habit of attacking any hooks that came near them. She swung her line just in time to avoid losing it to one particularly bad-tempered bird. The hook snagged the loop on the back of the duck's neighbour, and she gave a cry of triumph as she hoisted it out of the water.

"Victory! What do I win?"

"Now, kid, you keep the duck."

Hiromi looked to Muta, horrified. "What, no! I can't keep that!" As if to prove her point, the duck swung on the line and tried to bite her. "Can I… Can I put it back?" she whispered.

"I don't know. Might be bad spirit etiquette," Muta whispered back. "They'll probably turn you into a duck if you try to refuse."

Hiromi stared at Muta, and then saw the glimmer of amusement in his eyes. She unlooped the duck and let it splash back into the water. "You're a mean cat, do you know that?"

"So I've been told." Muta grinned, and then looked conspiringly over her shoulder.

Hiromi glanced briefly back. Haru and her mother were trying their luck at a ring toss, while Baron and Toto waited to one side. Toto spotted Hiromi and Muta watching, but Baron only had eyes for Haru. Hiromi turned back to Muta. "What are you thinking?"

"Do you wanna help set up Haru and Baron?"

"You're asking," Hiromi murmured back, "if I want to set up my best friend with a cat doll?"

Muta paused. "Well, do ya?"

"Fine. But I'm only doing this because I know for a fact she likes him."

"That's the spirit, kid."

"And you can stop calling me 'kid'. I'm an adult."

"You're Haru's age, right?"

"Yeah, and?"

"So you're still a kid to me."

"You don't call Haru 'kid'. You call her 'Chicky'."

"That's different. Personal."

Hiromi gave him a look, and then an offhand shrug. "Fine. So what's your plan? That's assuming you even have a plan…"

"Course I have a plan. Who do you think I am? Baron? You see that?" Muta pointed towards a water-themed archway – themed in that, as well as having dolphin and fish patterns along it, it was also made from water. "A Lazy River. We get them on that, they'll be stuck together until the ride finishes."

Hiromi narrowed her eyes at the ride. "Huh. That's… that's actually not half bad. Hey, at least it's not a Tunnel of Love – gotta at least try to be subtle, right? What are we going to do? Stand in line, and after they've got in, duck out?"

"Pretty much. Do you think you could explain the plan to Haru's mam, while I get the birdbrain to agree?"

Hiromi raised an eyebrow. "Why don't _I_ talk to Toto, and _you_ can talk to Haru's mum?"

"Because it's my plan."

"But you can't talk to Toto without starting an argument." Hiromi paused. "Oh heck. Does Haru's mum know that Haru likes…?"

Muta patted Hiromi on the back, nearly knocking her over. "So it's agreed. Meet ya at the Lazy River entrance in five."

"That's optimistic," Hiromi muttered, but she stepped over to Naoko's side regardless. The older woman was concentrating intently as she aimed a ring towards the stand. "Hey, Ms Yoshioka."

"Hello, Hiromi."

Hiromi paused as the ring landed on one of the sticks. "Hey, um, so Muta and I – Muta's the white cat – well, we were thinking about giving Haru and Baron a chance to chat…"

Naoko weighed the next ring in her hand. "As far as I can tell, they've had plenty of time to chat over the last few years."

Hiromi was really hating Muta for sticking her with this conversation right now. She sighed quietly, and noticed Haru was watching them. Hiromi gave her a 'I've got this' smile, and Haru nodded back and replied to something Baron had said.

"Look, Ms Yoshioka," Hiromi murmured, "I understand how you feel about this. I really do. Haru is my best friend–"

"And she's my _daughter_."

"–and we both thought we had lost her last year," Hiromi finished.

"Did you know?" Naoko asked. "Did you know what she was really doing?"

Hiromi hesitated. "I… Haru never told me. But I got caught up in another world a couple of years back, and after that, I knew. Haru didn't know I knew, she thought I had forgotten, but when she vanished… I managed to track them down. The Bureau. Make them tell me what was going on." Hiromi stared at the hoop stand, trying to focus on that and not on the heartbreak of that discovery. "And I was so, so angry at the Bureau for losing Haru. I only really asked – well, demanded – to help because I didn't trust them to get her back."

"And now?"

Hiromi bit her lip, considering her next words. She shifted her gaze to Naoko. "I trust that they care for her. And I trust that this is her choice."

Naoko was quiet for a moment, considering all Hiromi had said. Then, "You should have told me."

"I…"

"I should have been there, helping to get my baby back–"

"No, you shouldn't," Hiromi said, her words sharper than expected. "We… We failed a bunch of times. I don't know how much she told you about the last year, but… we failed, and when we failed, she died. She…" Hiromi's voice gave way, and she had to shake the images away. "I watched her die over and over and no… no mother should see that."

"But maybe, if I had been there…"

"It wouldn't have made any difference," Hiromi said softly. "The way we eventually got Haru back, it was some clever trick of magic, a spell that was able to find the real Haru…" All those years of knowing Haru, and none of it had helped.

Naoko was silent, and then she lowered her head in a defeated nod. "So why are you asking to give them a chance to talk to Haru? Don't they have enough time on their… missions?"

"From my experience, their adventures seem to be mostly running and occasionally coming up with plans," Hiromi said. "No, um, what I – what _we_ – were thinking of was more along the lines of…" She trailed off, rapidly reddening. Why did she have to be the one to break the news? She winced and just jumped straight in with, "Haru likes Baron."

Naoko stared. Then she took a long, slow breath accompanied by a long, slow blink. "What?"

"Haru likes Baron."

"That's what I thought you said." To her credit, Naoko didn't glance back at either her daughter or the cat Creation, although Hiromi could tell she desperately wanted to. "I was just really hoping I was mistaken. Right. Fine. That… That explains a fair bit, actually. I still have questions, but they're different ones now." Naoko's mouth twitched as she tried to decide upon just which one to go for, eventually siding for, "When…?"

"I don't know how long. Years, I think."

"Okay. Sure. And does he…?"

"Yeah."

"But I thought Haru and Michael…"

"They were a thing, but I think that ended before Haru disappeared. But since Haru is back, she and Baron have a bit of talking to do. Which they're apparently both terrible at, so they need a little… push."

Naoko looked less than convinced, but she only gave a tired sigh. "I won't pretend that I'm entirely surprised at this but… okay. But I'm not doing any pushing."

"That's fine. Muta and I have that already sorted out."

ooOoo

Haru eyed the murmured conversation between her mother and Hiromi, and then to the almost civil chat Toto and Muta were enduring. She glanced to Baron. "Do you get the impression we're being plotted against?"

"Given that Toto and Muta are conversing without breaking into a fight? Most possibly."

So when the others suggested they go for the Lazy River, Haru tried not to look too amused. As they queued, Haru leant over to Baron, and murmured, "You'd think they'd go for something a little less cliché."

Baron looked to her, and then back to the carnival ride before them. She visibly saw the penny drop. "Ah. I see what you mean."

"You don't have any experience in setting people up, do you?"

"Admittedly, I have had little cause to." He tilted his head. "Do you?"

"Have experience? Admittedly, not outside watching rom-coms." Haru did her best to not notice how, when they reached the front of the queue, her and Baron were somehow the first ones in the boats. And they were boats, Haru was relieved to see, not the usual inflatable rubber rings. Although, now she had thought of it, she would have loved to see Baron try to make that look dignified.

Baron preceded her, and offered a hand to help her into the two-person boat.

She tried to look surprised when the others suddenly announced they realised there was something else they wanted to do, and vanished from the queue. Haru settled down and grinned at Baron. "One of these days, they'll actually be subtle about it."

ooOoo

Naoko was still somewhat surprised that she had agreed to help – well, if not help, then at least not hinder – the others' little stunt, but she couldn't entirely pretend it was all for Haru. She looked to the large white cat, who was on the verge of starting an argument with the crow.

"It was… Muta, wasn't it?"

The cat paused, his gaze sliding past her as it so often did. "Yeah," he muttered.

"There was a little toy store back the way we came in that I'd love to take a proper look at – do you think you could find your way back to it?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Oh, and after that, there's some sort of spinning ride over that way," Hiromi said, pointing to something that, even with Naoko standing still, made her feel slightly nauseous.

"It looks like the seats aren't even connected to the contraption," Naoko said faintly.

"Exactly. I've gotta try that."

"Maybe I should accompany Hiromi to the spinning ride, and Muta, you can take Ms Yoshioka to the toy shop," Toto offered, landing on Hiromi's shoulder as he spoke.

Hiromi looked to him. "You're coming on that?"

"Not a chance. I'll watch from a safe distance."

"Fair enough."

Naoko gave a small smile to Muta. "Lead the way."

ooOoo

It was nice, Haru had to admit, to be able to relax with Baron without the threat of a case going south overshadowing them. She leant back in the boat, letting the natural sway of the water rock her gently into a sleepy, content bundle.

"I've missed this," Baron murmured. "Just being able to sit with you like this."

Haru snorted quietly. "Don't let Muta or Toto hear you say that, or they'll constantly be setting us up like this."

"Would that be so bad?"

"Only when they start gloating." She dropped her head onto his shoulder and sighed. "Still… I've missed this too."

ooOoo

Naoko had an uncomfortable conversation coming. That was, if she was right. She took a deep breath. Of course, if she was wrong, she only had the embarrassment of being wrong to deal with, but something told her she wasn't.

"Yer okay, lady? Yer breathing funny."

"I'm fine."

Muta halted, and it took Naoko a fair moment to realise this was because they had reached the toy shop. Had it really taken her that long to gather her thoughts? The cat pushed the door open, a bell pleasantly tinkling with the action, and waited for her enter.

"Well? Ain't this where you wanted to go?"

She started in, and then she hesitated and looked back. In the lantern light of the shop, the white cat's fur looked almost amber. Her gaze moved over him, searching for something familiar.

"I had a friend called Renaldo Moon once," she said. "A long time ago."

Muta's grip on the door slipped and, cursing, he caught it with his elbow before it could hit either of them. He didn't meet Naoko's eyes. He couldn't. His heart was suddenly racing, and he could only be thankful that the birdbrain wasn't here to witness this. "Yeah," he said gruffly. "And?"

ooOoo

Resisting the boat's natural relaxing rocking, Haru abruptly sat up. The boat tilted precariously, but stayed upright. "I've just thought of something."

"Just now?"

"Back in the Cat Kingdom, did the Sanctuary translation glitch? Or did Clementine really call my name weird?"

"You've always had cat-speaking abilities," Baron gently reminded.

"Oh."

"In addition, the kingdom naturally translates speech for all humans. It's part of the cat-transforming magic."

"Oh," Haru repeated. She made a face. "So my name _is_ weird?"

"Not the name, but the meaning."

"It means spring. Yuki's name means snow. So what?"

"Back in the previous Cat King's generation, it was not uncommon for cats to have classical European names. Greek deities and Roman emperors were very fashionable, especially among the upper classes."

"What does this have to do with my name? And, hang on, the ex-Cat King had a _name_?"

Baron tilted his head, a smile catching at his lips. "Of course. Did you think he was simply called the Cat King?"

"I try not to think about him too much," she admitted. "So, what was his name?"

"Claudius."

Haru snorted. "Oh, wait – you're not joking. Really?"

"Really."

"King Claudius? The ex-Cat King is called King CLAWdius?"

"Yes."

"Did… Did his parents realise it was a pun? Or did nobody tell them because they were too embarrassed to tell the Cat King and Queen that they'd given their son a freaking pun for a name?"

"The Cat King wasn't born into royalty. He married into it."

Haru eyed him, as she might do when Muta was pulling her leg. "Is that true?"

"Is it such a surprise?"

"I don't know. I just thought, since there's no queen… if he wasn't of the royal bloodline, wouldn't the crown have passed onto Lune?"

"The laws are a little… shall we say, loose, in the Cat Kingdom. And it is true. He married the Crown Princess, Persephone."

"Persephone," Haru repeated. "PURRsephone. Now I _know_ you're making this up."

"Not at all," Baron assured her. "The reigning monarchs of the time were very fond of traditional names that incorporated feline puns into them. A lot of nobility trying to ingratiate themselves into the royal family followed suit."

"And what happened to her? I mean, I haven't even heard of her until now."

"She vanished about twenty-something years back. Nobody knows how or why. But that's why Clementine commented on your name – the name Persephone comes from the Greek goddess of spring, so naming another royal cat after the same season could be seen as… courting bad luck."

"Fair enough."

Baron raised an eyebrow. "It doesn't bother you?"

She shrugged. "Hey, I'm called spring and look how my first introduction to the Cat Kingdom panned out. Kidnapped and nearly forced to marry a cat." She hesitated. "Then again, I did get to meet all of you, so… it wasn't all bad."

ooOoo

Naoko stared at the cat, willing words to come. How had she really expected this to go? For her to throw an almost long-forgotten name out into the open, and hope he would join in? That he would explain why he was a cat? That he would finally put to rest the question of why he and her husband had both vanished one fateful night, over two decades ago?

She wasn't wrong. She knew that now. This was the same Renaldo Moon she had known in her youth. She had wondered since almost the first time she heard him speak – he hadn't known she was listening, but his voice had nagged at her, a nearly-memory. She had listened out after that, eventually remembering a friend she had lost twenty years prior, a friend whose voice she wouldn't have been able to recollect until she heard it. But it had been his voice.

Of course, voices, accents, are easily confused. And he was called Muta, or so Haru had introduced him, and so Naoko had ignored it. Put it down to an unfortunate little coincidence. And as for the quietness he displayed around her – well, she had been furious at the whole Bureau when she discovered that they were the cause, or part of it anyway, for the year-long loss of her daughter. She had reasoned that her anger would be enough to make anyone nervous around her afterwards.

But that _name_.

Renaldo Moon.

And now she stood before him, spotting all those little mannerisms that become fundamental to a friend's identity; little details she had ignored before, now jumping out at her. The roll of his eyes. The roll of his words. Even the way his shoulders shifted before he threw himself into an overreaction.

_Renaldo Moon._

One of her oldest friends was standing before her, and he couldn't even tell her.

ooOoo

"Not all bad?" Baron echoed amusedly. "I think your mother would disagree on that."

"My mother is coming round to the idea of me being part of the Bureau," Haru said. "Slowly," she admitted, "but she's getting there."

Up ahead on the river, a tunnel opening loomed, and Haru settled back into her seat as the river led them into the candlelit gloom.

"Do you think it was a good idea to leave Toto and Muta to look after my mother and Hiromi?"

"In our defence, it was their idea," Baron said.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean it was necessarily a good one."

"True. But we might get a pig and they'll actually work together for once."

Haru blinked, and then slowly tilted her head so there was no mistaking the look she was giving Baron. "Ex _cuse_ me?"

"They can work together, if they feel there's a good enough cause–"

"No, not that bit. ' _Get a pig_ '?"

Baron frowned. "I've used that phrase before."

"I can definitely, _empirically_ , tell you that I've never heard you say that before. Ever. I would remember it. Muta would remember it. Muta would be up in arms about it. We would never hear the end of it."

"It's a German idiom which means to get lucky…" Baron trailed off. "Oh. I guess the Sanctuary might have translated that to a more familiar idiom for you, but now it's gone, the translation must be beginning to wear off. How unexpected."

Haru breathed heavily, if nothing more than to curb the slightly-hysterical laughter bubbling in her lungs. "So you've been using 'get a pig' for years, and nobody's noticed?"

"Not abundantly but… I've definitely said it once or twice."

"The great Baron Humbert von Gikkingen has been using the phrase 'get pig' and this is the first I hear about it?"

Baron frowned again. "I fail to see quite where the humour comes in here."

"Do you have any idea how… sophisticated and refined you sound? And now I finally learn that the Sanctuary has been covering for you all this time? It's hysterical." She covered her mouth, biting her lip to hide the snigger. "Did it never seem strange that Muta never took insult over it?"

"I mostly assumed he knew I wasn't referring to him." Baron paused. "But, in hindsight, you may have a point."

"Yeah. Perhaps don't use that phrase again when he's around."

"Duly noted."

The lanterns strung along the interior of the tunnel – more a cave than a tunnel, really – flickered, and long shadows raced along the walls for a heartbeat before the light died entirely.

For a moment, the only sound was their breath and the gentle lapping of waves against the boat.

Then Haru snorted, upsetting any atmosphere the sudden darkness might have possessed, and kicked back her feet onto the prow of the boat. "Guess it's a spooky haunted ride. Just when I thought this couldn't get any more cliché." Regardless, she leant gently against Baron. "I'll have a thing or two to say to them once we get out of here."

ooOoo

_Say something._

Muta searched for an answer – _the_ answer – to Naoko's words, to the obvious question she left between them, but for once speech had left him. How long had she known? And she was sure now – he could see it in her eyes. Had the cat dropping his original name in the Cat Kingdom just been the final piece in the puzzle? Or had she been entirely oblivious until hearing the name of a long lost friend?

"Naoko," and after so many years without speaking it, the name felt alien on his tongue, "I'm sorry–"

Anything else he had to say was swallowed up by the sound of carnival music, tinny and bright like a melody from a music box. The puppets that rested along the window sprang into life, their strings pulled by invisible fingers as they danced to the tune.

Naoko jumped, and then laid a hand on her heart in surprise. "We're still in the magic toyshop," she murmured, more to herself than to Muta. "Of course."

The candles blazed from gentle flames to bright spotlights, racing along the shop's interior until they illuminated the shopkeeper.

The man was of a questionable middle age, greying hair and faint wrinkles in his skin, but with an energy in his blue eyes that defied his apparent age. He was dressed in a finery that was long past its prime and at odds with what Muta expected a toymaker to wear.

"Good evening, good folks, and how may I be of service?"

Muta glanced sideways to Naoko. He was pretty sure her request to visit the shop had been a ruse to speak to him alone, but they were here now. "I think we're jus' looking."

"Then take a good look. I must say, it's unusual to see a human in these parts. And a…" The toymaker looked to Muta with a curious look.

"I'm a cat."

" _Just_ a cat? You seem to have an abundance of loose magic on you."

"What's this? Twenty questions? Yeah, I'm _just a cat_."

The toymaker clicked his tongue. "So you're mortal?"

"I haven't put it to the test, but sure. What's it to you?"

Naoko tore her eyes away from the dancing puppets to turn her attention to the shopkeeper. "How did you know I was human anyway? You look human too."

The toymaker smiled, and his eyes glimmered like fire. "You should never trust one's appearance, especially in this world, dear mortal. As for your identity, a human is unmistakable by its scent."

Naoko frowned, and Muta wondered if she was trying to work out if she had just been insulted. Eventually, she evidently decided upon, "So what are you?"

"Me? I'm just a harmless spirit who likes to make toys." As he waved a hand through the air, the toys on the shelves flickered into momentary life. Porcelain ballet dancers pirouetted, stuffed animals stretched, and wooden toy soldiers saluted. Then the magic left them, and they slumped back into place.

"Are they alive?" Naoko asked, and she was glancing half-back to Muta. He could see the connection she was making, which was unsurprising given her narrow experience with the magical worlds so far.

Muta shook his head. "Nah. Not in the same way Baron and Birdbrain are. These lot are more like wind-up toys, except it's magic doing the winding."

"What a peculiar analogy," the toymaker said.

"Hey, I'm not an expert in magic, but I've seen enough to take a guess."

"But if you're a toymaker," Naoko said, "then what is that?" She pointed to a handheld mirror that rested in the wooden arms of a puppet dressed in traditional feudal lord attire.

The toymaker smiled, and Muta was sure his eyes glimmered again. "You have good eyes, mortal." He gestured, and the mirror drifted over into his hands. "This is no toy. This is a magic mirror."

Muta snorted. "Yeah, magic like everything else is in this world."

"This mirror spent over a hundred years in the Human World, and do you know what that means?"

"It's a Tsukumogami?" Naoko guessed. At Muta's look, she shrugged her shoulders half-defensively. "I might not have believed in magic until a few months back, but that doesn't mean I don't know a few bits of folklore. Tools that reach their hundredth birthday are meant to gain souls, aren't they?" Her eyes widened. "Is that what Baron and Toto are?"

"They're slightly different – they're Creations." Muta eyed the mirror warily. "Tsukumogami gain souls through living to a certain age, while Creations gain souls through the love of their artisan. So Tsukumogami can be a bit… unpredictable. And with there not being a lot of magic in the Human World, they don't happen so much anymore. So this one must be fairly old."

"Ancient," the toymaker agreed. "The magic that remains in it allows you to see the true appearance of a person." He turned it so the glassy surface faced his two customers. "Take a look, take a look. See who you really are."

Against his better judgement, Muta leant in with Naoko to meet his reflection.

His feline face stared back.

An emotion he couldn't quite name filtered through him, Disappointment? Relief? Ever since his brush with Doctor Moreau's shapeshifting magic, he had come to accept that he was well and truly stuck as a cat. And being a cat wasn't all bad – no boring adult responsibilities, no taxing, dull job – but still… He had thought he would see even a flicker of the human he had once been.

"Hey, mister, I think yer mirror's broke–"

The reflection shimmered, and the fur faded. Human? But no, the feline features didn't change, the fur only flattening down to a duller fuzz. He heard Naoko gasp and he tore his attention away from his own face to see Naoko's reflection shift to fabric skin and button eyes.

He started towards the toymaker, an accusing cry in his throat but his mouth wouldn't move. He looked back to the mirror to see his reflection's mouth was only a thin sewn line. He threw a paw to his face, and his paw was that of a stuffed toy. He tried to move, but now the world was tilting, growing around him – no, he was shrinking and the floor was rushing up to meet him.

He hit the ground with a soft flump, and the world muted and went dark.

ooOoo

The toymaker stood over the two dolls, a smile slowly spreading across his face. He hadn't been sure it would work on the cat, mortal or not, not with the remnant magic that lingered on him, but it appeared the toymaker needn't have worried.

He collected up the toys and set them atop a shelf. His newest creations.

**ooOoo**

**Teaser:** _**"You've LOST my mother?!" / Toto looked to Hiromi then, and somehow there was a shadow in his already pitch-black eyes. "Really? We brought Haru back, and suddenly everything's back to normal? It's as if it never happened? No harm done?" / The toymaker leant over them. "Now, what am I to do with two badly-behaved toys?" / Haru stepped back. "The Bureau has never been about justice, Baron. When did you forget that?"** _


	6. Episode 6: The Bureau's Holiday (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unsuprisingly, the Bureau's visit to a spirit festival goes south in record time, and Muta and Naoko find themselves trapped. Also in this chapter: temporarily misplaced mothers, badly-behaved toys, and multiple heart-to-hearts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hiya folks, sorry for the delay! With all the chaos of covid19, I maaaaaay have lost track of the days of the week, and only realise Saturday had come and gone when a friend asked if everything was okay because I was running late. (Oops?) Anyway, thank you for all the support you all have given, please do carry on reviewing if you enjoy this story, and look at this way: you get two chapters this week! (Because you got none last week, but let's not focus on that...)
> 
> Stay safe,
> 
> Cat.

_The Bureau Files: Series 5_

**ooOoo**

**Episode 6: The Bureau's Holiday (Part 2)**

Haru had seen scarier things. Not scarier haunted rides, necessarily; the spirit world had a monopoly on scares with magic at its disposal, but definitely scarier things in general. Still, she jumped at the right parts, laughed afterwards, and shamelessly took up the offer to hold Baron's hand through the 'scares'.

Finally they started to near the tunnel's exit, the light of the carnival in sight at the end.

Something shifted in the darkness just before the opening. Another illusion, no doubt. One last fright before they were released back out into the world of light and festivities. Haru smiled, tensing herself for the inevitable jump scare.

A scaly dragon head loomed close, illuminated by the magic of its own being. Haru had to bite back the laugh. A dragon? Really? Was that the best they could do? She winked at the red eyes bearing down at her.

The dragon inhaled, and the whole tunnel appeared to shake, as if it too was rising and falling with breath. The water rippled, and the boat rocked. Haru had to drop her feet down from the prow to avoid losing her balance.

Baron's other hand reached out and caught her shoulder, a question in his eyes. She grinned and started to reassure him she was fine when the shadow of another dragon head caught her eye. More. There were more heads, snaking in the darkness. She twisted away from Baron, breaking from his hands as she tried to keep the heads in sight.

"Haru…?"

Eight. There were eight heads. Her breath hitched on some dormant, instinctive fear, a memory beginning to rise within her.

The heads lunged into the open space before them, eight streams of fire streaming inches before them. Illusion fire, but Haru's mind filled in the gaps. She yelped – _fire and burning and death_ – and physically pushed herself back. The boat rocked again, but this time it was her doing, and Baron had to grab her before she capsized herself over the side.

The illusion vanished and they were out into the cool evening air again, but Haru couldn't rid that image from her mind. She dropped her head into her hands, pushing her palms against her eyes as if she could push the memories away, but she could still see it. Still feel it.

_Burning, burning, she was dying, and the world was burning_

Her breathing was sharp and shallow, running her throat raw. She gasped, but it wasn't enough. All she could feel was the heat and the burning and her own heartbeat, her pulse pounding so hard between her ears that she rocked.

Hands, cool and calm hands settled on her shoulders.

"Haru. Haru, please, what…?"

Distantly, she realised her hearing had momentarily faded, but now Baron's voice was starting to come back to her. With effort, she dropped her hands from her eyes and her fingers curled around his jacket. This was real. _He_ was real. She was safe, and those deaths were just memories now. Still, when she opened her mouth, the panic threatened to overwhelm her again.

"I remember," she whispered. "I remember all of it."

ooOoo

Hiromi staggered off the spinning ride, grinning and gripping the low barrier surrounding the ride somewhat tightly. She raised one hand to half-heartedly sweep her hair back into place. "Whoa. You should definitely try that."

Toto perched on the barrier beside her. "I think I'll give it a miss this time." He glanced past Hiromi, hopping slightly from foot to foot.

Hiromi look backed to where he was watching. There were only crowds behind her, and little else. "You okay?" she asked. "You look a little… I don't know. Nervous."

"Muta and Ms Yoshioka should have returned by now."

"Relax. Maybe they just got distracted. They're probably still in the shop. I know I would be if I were looking around a magical toy shop." When Toto's manner didn't loosen, Hiromi added, "I mean, this is just a festival, right? So we should be fine. No danger."

If possible, the thin line that was Toto's beak thinned further. "We don't have the best track record for staying out of trouble."

Hiromi gave a half-shrug, thinking of her last year working alongside the Bureau. "Okay, so maybe you've got a point. Still, they're just running a few minutes late. Why jump to any sort of conclusion? What could have possibly gone wrong?"

"I don't know. But things tend to go wrong when we split up. I didn't think… I thought that today would be safe enough…"

Hiromi watched the bird, a faint frown beginning to etch itself into her brow. "You're really hung up about this, aren't you?"

"Wouldn't you be?" Toto shot back. "If it was your friends who were always throwing themselves into danger?"

Hiromi raised an eyebrow. "You forget – Haru is my best friend. I know what she's like."

"And that doesn't stress you out?"

"Oh, _so much_. I'm glad she's back, but knowing she's still running around with you guys, when that was exactly what got her into the mess in the first place…? I'm still relieved when I see her again after a few days, just to know she's okay and safe." She paused, and watched the crowds pass them by. "But… Haru is her own person and, however much I hate to admit it, it's not my duty to keep her safe. I _wish_ I could bundle her up and keep her away from monsters and other world dangers, but that's impossible."

"It's not your duty," Toto said quietly, "but it is mine. And I failed."

Hiromi looked sharply back to him. "What? Your duty? Like… your job?"

"Not exactly. Creations are made with a purpose in mind. Baron's is to help, while mine… is to protect."

"Oh." Hiromi was silent a moment, and then, "Is this about Haru? Because she's made it quite clear that she doesn't blame you or any of the Bureau for what happened–"

"We lost her for a year because we couldn't protect her – because _I_ couldn't," Toto said.

"We got her back though."

"Eventually."

"But we did. No harm done."

Toto looked to her then, and somehow there was a shadow in his already pitch-black eyes. "Really? We brought Haru back, and suddenly everything's back to normal? It's as if it never happened?"

Hiromi hesitated.

"No harm done?" he echoed. "So the pain of her family and friends – for you, and Michael, and her mother, for Baron and Muta – in thinking she was dead… that is all healed now she's back? The pain of seeing her die, over and over, that doesn't matter anymore? Losing the Sanctuary, it tearing itself apart to bring her back, that was fine, was it?"

"Are you saying you'd rather have the Sanctuary back than Haru?" Hiromi asked.

"No!" Toto snapped. "But everything that took place – it didn't have to! We didn't bring any good into the world, we just rectified our mistakes. And if I had done what I was made to, if I had protected the Bureau, then none of it would happened!"

Both of them were silent for a long moment and then Hiromi, gently but firmly, picked Toto off the barrier and sat herself down on the cobbled street, her back against the barrier to avoid being stepped on. She set Toto on her knee, who was too surprised by her actions to react.

"Have you told any of the others about this?" she asked.

Toto shook his head. "I can't tell Haru, and Baron… I don't know what's happening with him right now. I don't want to remind him of the last year."

"Why can't you tell Haru?"

Toto just looked at her, and she could easily read the guilt and tiredness in his eyes. She decided she wouldn't make any progress on that, however hard she tried. Carefully, she released Toto, drawing her hands away when she was sure he was securely perched on her knee. "Toto… we all make mistakes. I made a mistake in not telling Haru that I knew what she was doing with the Bureau – if I had, I might have been able to be there or help somehow when trouble hit..." She shook her head before those thoughts could crowd out all other reasoning. "And sometimes those mistakes do have consequences that we can't fix, so all we can do is learn from them. That's just part of living."

"That's what I'm trying to do," Toto said. "But people keep on getting hurt. I can't… I can't protect everyone. Not anymore."

As he spoke, there was the almost inaudible _chink_ of stone against stone as he shuffled his wings.

Hiromi reached out to pat him, and subtly shifted her hand to his wings. Beneath the soft outer layer of feathers, she felt a slither of stone. She withdrew, unsure of what to make of it. Was that normal for Creations?

She tried for a smile that even she could feel was uneasy. "But Toto, you can't protect people all the time. That's just not possible."

His eyes were tired. So tired. "But I have to try."

Hiromi stared at him a moment longer, and patted him once more. "Let's go see what's taking them so long."

ooOoo

Muta was pleasantly surprised when he opened his eyes again to discover he wasn't dead.

He was less pleased about the fact he still resembled a stuffed toy, but he'd take what he could get.

He stretched, felt a few seams pop, and thought better of it. Currently, he was occupying an upper shelf, alongside a collection of other toys – possibly made, probably cursed like him – and no sign of the toymaker. Figures. They couldn't even go to a festival without something going wrong. So much for reassuring Haru's mam that they had everything under control.

Crap. Naoko.

Muta straightened and shuffled along the shelf, edging his way past the other toys until he came to a small patchwork rag doll with familiar short red hair. He prodded one paw at her and felt a little remnant magic pass between them. The doll's button-eyes shimmered and focused on him.

"…You?"

Muta smiled, and he felt his sewn mouth spread wide. It was uncanny. "Hey, lady."

"Why do I feel so…?" Naoko began to rise and then finally took note of her patchwork limbs and padded skin and she sat down sharply. She leant back in the imitation of breath she no longer needed and a high-pitched whine started at her lips.

Muta hurriedly covered her mouth. "Hey, no, not a good idea."

"What – how – what happened to me?" she demanded as best she could around the stuffed paw. "Where are we? How am I… _this_?"

"I dunno all the details, but I'm guessing it's magic. Seems like this shopkeeper's been getting stock by turning people into dolls. Probably picks on mortals that pass through, and we just happened to be today's choice." He glanced to the open door. "Probably didn't intend on us waking up, so we'd better go before he comes back. You ready to get moving?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Nah." He knelt down. "Hop on."

"On you?"

"Unless yah want to walk, yeah."

Naoko glanced uneasily over the edge, and leant hurriedly back when she saw the drop looming. "Can you jump all that way?"

"Why not? I _am_ a cat." He grinned back at her while she carefully clambered onto his back. "Plus, it ain't like we got any bones to break now." And before Naoko could properly process this, Muta dropped over the side.

He landed more like a cushion than a cat, his paws sinking into his body, and he had to shake to get his fluff back into place. "See? We got this."

The chime of the door went, and the toymaker froze at the entrance. His eyes bugged at the two figures on the floor, and for several long, laboured heartbeats no one moved. Muta considered playing dead, but the moment passed when the toymaker lunged for them and Muta instinctively leapt out of reach.

He crashed into the lanterns and toys lining the shelves and ducked out of the way before their flames could catch him. There was the sound of shattering candles, the scent of smoking wooden floor, and he ran for the exit.

The door _shimmered_.

The door shimmered and Muta pulled up short just before magic crumpled the door where it stood. He turned. The toymaker waved a hand and the candles snuffed out. The blackening spots of floor died away.

"Did you really think," the toymaker said, "you were going to get away that easily? _In my own shop_?"

"It was worth a try," Muta said. He backed up until he was leaning against the mess that was once a door. "Well, that's me all out of ideas. How about you, Red?"

Naoko stiffed at the nickname she hadn't heard in twenty years. "It _is_ you," she breathed.

"Yeah. Thought you might as well know."

The toymaker leant over them. "Now, what am I to do with two badly-behaved toys?"

ooOoo

Baron's grip on her shoulders gently loosened, hesitated, and then softly peeled her hold on his jacket to curl around his hands instead.

"What do you remember, Haru?"

"All of it. The last year. Dying. The other worlds. You. When Morgan used me to speak to the typhon, I think it released those memories." She clenched her eyes shut, but that only made the memories – the emotions, the feelings – stronger. "I remember it. I remember everything – the whole year, every world, every…" The words caught on her throat, and breath was suddenly pained. "Every death." Her hands tightened around Baron's, as if he was the only thing keeping her anchored in storm. "I died, Baron, I died, and I kept on dying and it…"

The breath went out of her as he pulled her into his arms.

"Oh, Haru. I wish you had told me sooner."

"The memories only came back at the space station," Haru murmured, her words muffled as she spoke into his shoulder. "And you all seemed so relieved to know I couldn't remember it… I didn't want to take that one little mercy away from you. Not when you already blamed yourselves enough for what happened." She pulled away, her eyes bright with the tears she refused to shed, and she forced a watery smile. "And now you know. No big deal."

"No big deal? Haru, what you went through–"

"Sucks, I know." She squeezed Baron's hands. "But now you know, I don't have to deal with it alone. I've got you and the rest of the Bureau and Hiromi and Michael and my mother… I have so many people who care for me, and it's time I remembered that."

She smiled again, and this time it almost felt genuine. Then a new thought clouded over and the smile slipped. "Hey, Baron? You'd tell me if something was going on with you, right?"

He smiled back, and she would almost have believed it if she didn't know him so well. "Of course. But what makes you ask such a thing?"

Haru was on the verge of carefully picking out her words when the boat rocked to a halt. She started, and looked up to see they had reached the end of the ride. And, holding the boat with knuckle-white fingers, was Hiromi.

Hiromi grinned. "Hi. Had fun? Great. _Great_."

"We are going to have a talk later about childish behaviour," Haru warned as she hauled herself out of the boat, a helping hand from Baron behind her to keep her steady. "I mean, you could at least try to be subtle…" She trailed off as she picked up on the guilty air lingering around Hiromi. She leant in. "Hiromi. What have you done?"

"Nothing," Hiromi said, a little too high and quick to be natural.

Haru glanced about, and focused on her mother and Muta. Or, rather, the lack of either. "Hiromi, where's my mother?"

"Ah. Now, before you freak out, I feel you need to understand that there's no reason to think anything bad has actually happened–"

"You've _lost_ my mother?!"

"Misplaced! Temporarily misplaced!"

"How do you–?" Haru inhaled sharply, cutting off the panic before it could set in. When she slowly exhaled, the immediate desire to fight everything ebbed. Her gaze slid from Hiromi's sheepish demeanour and instead rested on Toto's still form. Something about his silence unsettled her – he wasn't ruefully embarrassed like Hiromi was, like he should have been if this had been something as simple as a momentary hiccup in their evening.

He met her gaze, then swiftly looked away, flying off Hiromi's shoulder and landing on Baron's. She watched as he murmured something to Baron, and Baron's own expression carefully didn't change.

Worry gripped her heart, and Haru grabbed Hiromi's wrist. Her grip was tight, but her voice was meticulously level. "Hiromi, where did you see her last?"

"She went with Muta to check out a toyshop we passed on the way in. They were taking a while, so Toto and I went to go find them, but the shop was empty and the toymaker had no idea where they'd gone. They probably just got distracted, I mean we're in a spirit festival, there's so much stuff to look at…"

"Show me."

Hiromi only appeared briefly surprised at Haru's seriousness, and then she nodded down the street. "It's this way."

If Haru had had any doubt over which toyshop Hiromi had been referring to, they dissipated when she found the one with its door hanging off its hinges. She only gave a glance back to Hiromi to make sure she wasn't mistaken – although it definitely looked like Bureau antics – before thundering inside.

The interior wasn't faring much better than the entrance. Toys scattered the floor, swept off their shelving by some previous incident. A couple of lanterns lay, broken, along the ground, only missing setting alight to the shop by pure luck. A mirror, miraculously unbroken, had been carefully set on the counter.

The toymaker, a middle-aged man in a faded kimono that must have been brilliant once, paused in his sweeping up of the broken lanterns to appraise the newcomers.

"Good evening, folks, and how may I be of service?"

Ignoring the words of warning from her companions, Haru marched straight up to the man. "Where's my mother?" she snarled.

The toymaker only smiled. "You'll need to be a little more specific than that."

"My mother," Haru repeated sharply. "She's human, yea high, with reddish-brown hair and glasses. She came with a large white cat. We know they came here – where are they?"

That smile didn't waver. The toymaker gestured loosely to the shop with one hand. "They came, and then they went. As you can plainly see, they're no longer here." His gaze slid past to Hiromi and Toto. "I've already told you this. I'm not sure quite what you expected to have changed in that time."

Behind her, Baron paced the shop; she could hear the tap-tap-tap of his cane against the floor. It seemed unusually loud in the enclosed space.

"What happened here?" Baron asked.

The toymaker chuckled. "People can get a little rowdy at festivals. Some overenthusiastic magic and…" He motioned to the mess. "It doesn't take much. Now, if you haven't any other questions for a simple toymaker–"

"But you're not just a simple toymaker, are you?" Baron interrupted. He slowed to a halt at the counter. His fingers tapped against the wooden surface, replacing the tap of his cane. "This shop reeks of magic."

"This is a spirit festival. There's magic everywhere – look." The toymaker waved a hand and the toys that had been returned to their shelves sprung up in the imitation of life. "See? Parlour tricks." He dropped his hand, and the toys dropped with it. "I challenge you to find a shop without magic." His eyes travelled over Baron. "Why, even you are not without it, _Creation_."

Baron smiled thinly. "Then you know what I am."

"Took me a little while, but your magic gives you away." His eyes moved to Haru. "You and your other feline friend, however… are something else. Tell me, what are you?"

Unease trickled down Haru's spine. "Angry," she answered. "Who are you and what have you done to my mother and Muta?"

"Introductions, yes, how rude of me. You may call me Kugutsu. And you are?"

Kugutsu.

 _Puppet_.

"That's a, uh, very literal name," Hiromi said. "Did your parents really want you to go into the toy business, or was it just a coincidence?"

"It's not his true name," Baron said. He was still at the counter, his fingers tapping and his attention roaming the sea of toys and puppets and dolls seated along their shelves. "But it is fitting. Tell me, did you take the name before or after you made your deal with the Tsukumogami?"

Haru snapped her head towards Baron. "Tsukumogami are real?"

"Certainly. They're rare, but they exist." Baron's fingers continued to tap, nearly – but not quite – touching the wooden rim of the ancient mirror atop the counter. "They're temperamental beings, fickle and amoral and quite, _quite_ dangerous in the wrong hands. Tell me, Mr Kugutsu, what deal did you make with this one?"

Kugutsu was standing very still now, his breath shallow. "Creation, you don't know what you're meddling with."

"You're not the only one who can recognise magic, Mr Kugutsu, and by mine, I would reckon this one has some sort of soul transference magic. Maybe it transforms the beholder's form into a figurine, or maybe it simply steals souls outright. Did you look into it, Mr Kugutsu? Did it try to steal your soul, and you bargained with it to let it release you? What did you promise in return? Other souls? How many souls have you fed it? How many people have you forsaken for your own sake?"

Kugutsu's mouth was a thin line. "You don't understand," he said. "I had no choice. It was going to trap me forever–"

Baron moved so fast that Haru barely saw him move. One moment he was standing at the counter; the next he was mere inches from the toymaker. "I understand perfectly," he growled. "I understand that you would throw away the lives of others to prolong your own pitiful existence."

"But it doesn't kill them," Kugutsu said. His mouth thinned further but there was almost a smile. "The humans that come through – they're going to die anyway. They're mortals. It's what they _do_. What I do is give them an immortal form. I shape the Ungaikyō's magic so it only turns them into the toys, where they can slumber as it feeds off their life-force. Isn't that a better way to go than the human lives they would return to otherwise? At least they leave something beautiful behind!" He looked to Hiromi. "Don't you see? I'm doing you a favour. I've seen the world you come from – so much anger and struggle and fear – why go through all that when you can rest instead?"

Hiromi paled. She shook her head. "You're sick."

"That's what you've done to my mother? And Muta?" Haru demanded. "You turned them into…?" She snapped her gaze across the crowded shelves, but saw no sign of anything resembling either individual. "Where are they?"

The toymaker's gaze flickered from Haru to Baron and back again. He licked his lips nervously. "Like I said," he said, "they left. Do you see them on my shelves?"

Haru was about to step up to Kugutsu again, when Baron moved back. There was something calculated in his actions as he stopped by the counter. Something she recognised, but not from Baron.

"Mr… Kugutsu, was it?" he asked, although he never forgot a name. His hand brushed over the mirror and then gently curled around the handle. "I believe my companion asked you a question and I do not appreciate lies. Where is the woman and the cat you transformed earlier today?"

Kugutsu stared at the mirror idling on the counter. "They're in the back," he said quietly. "I thought they were mortal enough that the Ungaikyō's magic would make them sleep, like normal, but it seems all that Creation magic tampered with the enchantment. I can't sell mouthy toys."

Haru glanced to Baron. He nodded for her to go, but she hesitated even so for a moment. She looked to Toto and Hiromi, and felt strangely reassured that they were also keeping an eye on Kugutsu before she ducked through into the back room.

It was dark and dim, and she lifted the lantern off its hook before proceeding much further. By the small glow of light it permitted, she navigated past worktops and benches and rows of half-finished toys before coming to a bird cage towards the back. What looked like a large white cushion monopolised the base layer.

"Muta?" she whispered. "Mum?"

The cushion shifted, and a familiar pair of ears – one white, one brown – perked up from the cushion. No. Not a cushion. From the large stuffed cat toy. Glassy eyes, somehow still recognisable, focused on her.

Haru was grinning like an idiot, but she couldn't bring herself to care. "Muta! Where's my mum?"

From the other side of the cage, a fabric arm waved, and a ragdoll with red hair and button eyes scrambled up onto the top of the toy cat.

"Mum!" Haru gasped in relief. "You're okay! I'm so sorry this happened – but I'm just so glad to see you! Sit tight, we're getting you out of here–" She gagged as her mother came into the light.

The thin line that was the ragdoll's mouth had been sewn shut.

And now her eyes dropped to Muta's face, and she saw that his threaded mouth had been similarly treated and their continued silences settled something cold in Haru's stomach. "Hold on right there," she growled. "I'm going to fix this."

She rounded back on the room and located a small pair of sewing scissors. Coaxing both toys towards the bars of their cage, she carefully snipped through the thread binding their lips and drew it gently out.

"Haru, you have to get out of here!" Naoko said. "The toymaker–"

"We know what he's been doing," Haru said. "And we're stopping it right now." She hoisted the cage into her arms and returned to the shop front, setting it onto the counter. No one had moved since she'd left. "Found them," she said. She opened the cage. "He sewed their mouths shut," she added.

Baron's gaze darkened. "Is that so?" He looked to Kugutsu, who did his best not to shrink away. "How do we return them to the way they were before?"

Kugutsu shook his head. "You don't. The Ungaikyō has them now."

"Really. So if I were to…" Before Haru could react, Baron had raised the mirror to reflect the toymaker's face. Kugutsu froze, even as magic crackled along the mirror's wooden exterior. "There would be no way to free you?"

"No–"

"Mr Kugutsu, I am holding back the Ungaikyō's desire to swallow you up, but I can't do this forever. Now tell me, how do I break its hold?"

"Baron…" Toto started cautiously.

"Alright, alright!" Kugutsu cried. "Just don't use it on me! I think… I think, if you break it, it should release all the souls it's taken. Just, please, don't let it take my soul!"

"That's all I wanted to hear," Baron said, and light shot out from the mirror in a crackle of unbridled magic. It submerged Kugutsu. There was a scream that faded with the light, and when the magic receded the toymaker was gone.

Haru's legs felt weak. "Baron," she rasped. "What…? What did you do? He told you how to break the spell!"

"He told me what I wanted to hear," Baron said. "It may have been true. It may not." He flipped the mirror round to face him, and that same lightning magic crackled around the handle. "Don't try anything with me," he growled. "Kugutsu has kept you locked up in here for centuries feeding off the fleeting lives of humans, but I've given you his immortal lifespan to live off. You don't need those mortals anymore. Release them."

The magic sizzled. Muta and Naoko didn't change.

"Kugutsu told me that breaking you should also release them. Now, I don't know if he was lying or not, but it's starting to look like _quite_ the promising option."

The light around the handle dimmed to an uneasy shimmer.

"If you return the mortal souls you've taken, I give my word that no harm shall come to you."

The light died away entirely, only to be replaced with a glow engulfing the shop instead. Forms shimmered in the light, most human, some beast, and a few unrecognisably _other_. But, most importantly, Muta and Naoko were there.

"Mum!" Haru threw her arms around Naoko, relief sagging her shoulders. "You're okay! I'm so glad…"

"Hey, Chicky, aren't ya happy to see me back too?"

"Of course, Muta." With a teary laugh, she freed one hand to pat Muta's arm.

Toto landed on Haru's shoulder. "It's good to have you back, butterball."

"Don't go getting soft on me, birdbrain."

"That old insult? Are you sure the transformation worked, because it sounds like you still have fluff for brains."

"Hey! I thought you said you missed me!"

"I said it was good to have you back!"

Chuckling, Haru glanced back at Baron. He had placed the mirror face-down on the counter and was moving round to the other side. He brought up brown wrapping paper and bound the mirror with it.

Haru released her mother and stepped uneasily towards him. "Baron? What are you doing?"

"I'll keep my promise. No harm will come to it – but it shall never harm another person either. I'll find somewhere safe to keep it."

Haru almost made a joke about it joining the accordion Creation she had boxed up in her room, and then thought better of it. The humour wouldn't settle. She exhaled heavily and moved her gaze away from the people suddenly crowding the little toyshop, away from her mother and Muta and Baron, and instead focused on the figurines still sitting on the shelves. "Not all of them changed back," she said.

Baron followed her gaze. "No," he agreed. "Some of them may have been simply toys in the first place, and…" He paused, and then continued, "And the mirror has been feeding off the souls Kugutsu offered for years. Our help will have come too late for some."

She nodded, and she felt sick. "Let's go home."

"Are you sure? I believe the fireworks here are quite spectacular–"

"I want to go home."

ooOoo

It was quiet in the Yoshioka household, but not a soul was asleep. Downstairs, Naoko sat at the old kitchen table, where fabric quarters still littered and plates still needed cleaning and a large white cat sat atop it all.

She stared at the feline and tried to see the glimmer of her friend from so long ago.

"So," she said, "it really is you."

The cat grunted.

"Why?" She swallowed. There were so many questions she wanted to ask – how this had happened, why he was a cat, what had happened all those years ago – but instead the words that dropped from her mouth were, "You should have told me."

Renaldo grunted again, but he didn't meet her eyes. "Told you what?"

"I thought you had died – you and Daichi. You vanish one night and I'm left alone with a child to raise and no answer to where her father and _Uncle Renny_ have gone, and I thought the worst! Why didn't you come back?"

"You wouldn't have understood me."

"I understand you now."

"Yeah, cause of Sanctuary magic. And even that's fading now. Sooner or later all ya gonna hear is meowing from me. After… After _this_ originally happened, I was just a regular cat and humans couldn't understand me. I stayed round for a while, but eventually I… left. Nothing else I could do."

"And… Daichi? My husband. Is he like you?"

_Is he still alive?_

"Like me?" Renaldo echoed.

"Is he a cat?"

Renaldo snorted, but still wouldn't meet Naoko's eyes. "Nah, he's human. Or something human, anyway. Not really sure anymore."

"What happened to him?"

"Ya really want to know, Red?"

"Why didn't he come back?" Naoko's voice was taut, her breath shallow. "If not for me, then for Haru. For his _daughter_."

"Cause he messed up. Didn't ya ever wonder why Chicky could talk to cats?"

"That… was a kid's game. She couldn't actually…" Naoko trailed off, recalling two conversations, a decade apart. She hesitated. "Could she?"

Renaldo shrugged. "Daichi was pretty good at finding other worlds, but sometimes trouble came with it. He opened up a portal to the Cat Kingdom and Haru ended up coming along for the ride. We got out – her, just in time, and me…" Renaldo shrugged again. "Well, there are worse things to be than a cat. But the deadline was so close that the kid ended up being able to speak to cats. Daichi blamed himself for that."

"And that's why he left?"

"I told him it was stupid but, then again, he never was any good at listening to me." Renaldo smiled, but there was little humour in the expression. "He ran off to a world where he could forget all his mistakes, and that's the last I saw of him for a good long while, otherwise I would have dragged his sorry hide back to you."

"You know where he is?"

" _Was_. We found him, but he vanished. Again. Seems to be one of his few talents."

"Does… Does Haru know?"

Renaldo hesitated, and then nodded. "She didn't want to tell ya because, well… it's frankly too much to believe. Portals and other worlds and talking dolls…"

"It is a little crazy," Naoko numbly agreed. She didn't speak for a few more laboured seconds, and it almost seemed like the conversation was coming to a close when she shot her gaze back to the cat. "So I understand why you couldn't tell me what happened immediately after you became a cat, but why didn't you say anything when Haru came back? Why didn't you tell me who you were?"

"Cause I left you and Haru all those years ago. I wouldn't have blamed you for wanting nothing to do with me."

Naoko weakly smiled. "Oh, you idiot. You were my best friend, Renny. Of course I wanted you back."

ooOoo

Haru wrapped the mirror into another layer of brown paper and carefully labelled it before settling it into the same box as the accordion. There were times when she really did miss the Sanctuary.

"There," she said as she returned the cardboard box to the upper shelf of her cupboard. "Safe and sound and probably unlikely to steal anyone's soul unless Mum decides to have a car boot sale." She grinned back at Baron, who was watching the proceedings from her desk. The smile slipped as she sat down on the edge of her bed. "So, are we gonna talk about it?"

"About what, Miss Haru?"

Her lips twitched into a frown. "You trapped Kugutsu."

"I realise."

"You _tricked_ him. He answered your question, and you still used the mirror on him."

"I never promised him I wouldn't."

"You promised the mirror, though."

"And I intend to keep it."

Haru was silent for a long moment. And then, "Why?"

"It had seen what I did to Kugutsu. It wouldn't have believed me unless I gave it my explicit word that I wouldn't harm it–"

"No," Haru snapped. "Why trap Kugutsu? He gave you the answer–"

"He gave me _an_ answer that may or may not have been the truth," Baron said. "Breaking the mirror was never a sure way of bringing your mother and Muta back. If it hadn't worked, they may have been stuck forever and we would have lost our bargaining tool with Kugutsu."

Nerves trickled down Haru's spine at _bargaining tool_. "Was that the only reason?"

"Giving the Ungaikyō what it wanted meant that there was the possibility we could reason with it. Which we did."

" _Was that the only reason?_ " Haru pressed.

"Do you think I had an ulterior motive?"

"I don't know!" Haru snapped. "You tell me! But I have _never_ seen you act like that before – like…" She trailed off, searching for the right words. "You're scaring me, Baron. It seems like ever since I came back, you've changed, and I don't know why. We had stopped Kugutsu, why trap him like that? Why lie to him?"

"Are you saying you wanted him to go free?" Baron asked. "After everything he had done?"

"I…"

"After the countless lives he had stolen in lieu of his own? After he took your mother and Muta? After he silenced them once it became clear they would not sleep like his other victims? Do you think he should have walked away from that?"

"I don't know. But that is _not_ how we do things in the Bureau!"

"Really, Miss Haru? And what happened with the puca at Fenland House?"

"I…"

"Or Mary, from Guertena's gallery? You took matters into your own hands in both cases with similar results, if I recall correctly."

Haru had got to her feet at some point in the discussion, but she wasn't sure when. "I was scared! I was scared and I didn't have enough time to find another way and I only did it to save others! But that was _not_ the case with Kugutsu! We had already stopped him. Without the mirror, he would have been harmless!"

"We don't know that."

"And you trapped him forever in the mirror for it."

"It was fitting. He had spent centuries trapping others in the Ungaikyō's spell, allowing it to feed off them. Isn't it justice that he is given the same fate in order to free his victims?"

Haru stepped back. "The Bureau has never been about justice, Baron. When did you forget that?"

**ooOoo**

**References:** _ **Hotarubi no Mori e.** _ **The idea for the festival came from this lovely little film.**

 _**Spirited Away** _ **(2001) produced by Studio Ghibli. It's not strictly canon to the spirit world in Spirited Away, but a lot of the visuals came from the opening scene. (Congrats to everyone who recognised the reference. Vitrual cookies to you.)**

**ooOoo**

**Next Story:** _**A Librarian and Her Knight** _

**Teaser:** _**Cornelia Dressler, librarian, had always wanted to believe in magic. / "Lady Elaine?" And that was when the chandelier fell from the ceiling. / "You're pulling my leg, right?" Haru said eventually. She looked up to Cornelia hopefully. "You're not honestly telling me this theatre is haunted." / Louise grinned. "Hello, Haru." / "There was a dragon in that book!" "And now there isn't."** _


	7. Episode 7: A Librarian and Her Knight (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the Bureau are reunited with an old client, they discover that things are not as they left them. Cornelia doesn't remember their case, Lady Elaine is out of her story, and there's a Opera Ghost running around the theatre causing chaos. Also on this case: falling chandeliers, Louise Version 2.0, and one missing dragon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hello folks! I hope you're all doing well! This is just a helpful reminder that the characters for this case first appeared in the Series 3, Ep5-6 case: A Cat and His Human. Enjoy, and stay safe, folks!
> 
> Cat.

_The Bureau Files: Series 5_

**ooOoo**

**Episode 7: A Librarian and Her Knight (Part 1)**

Cornelia Dressler, librarian, had always wanted to believe in magic.

She was sure most people did, secretly.

But growing up had taught her that if there was magic in the world, it wasn't something easily found, and so she had moved on to the next best thing – books. And, until a year ago, she had been fairly content with the acceptance that the only magic she was going to find was the magic of a good story.

Well, she had been half-right on that, anyway.

She leant back in her chair, finishing up the last of the day's work, and glanced fondly back to the children's paperback that sat in pride of place on her desk.

Her co-workers had never quite understood her sudden change of heart. In a day, she had gone from proclaiming her frustration at the two-dimensional cardboard cut-out characters and the predictable plotline, to being fiercely protective of the copy. Of course, she couldn't tell them how she had been drawn into the book, along with a peculiar crew who called themselves the Cat Bureau (despite only two out of four being cats), or how they had changed the story within with their actions, or how she had found Lady Elaine, a self-proclaimed knight, quite fetching when she wasn't forced to play the role her author had set.

It was one thing to have a literary crush.

It was quite another to have actually _met_ them.

Cornelia collected up the book, moving aside the wooden figurine they'd found in the main library last week. It should have gone into the lost property box, but Cornelia had been sure someone would have returned to pick it up by now. It looked like a family heirloom, not something left in a library and forgotten.

She patted the feline statuette as she gathered up _Sir Gawain and the Dragon_. "I'm sure your owner will be back soon," she said. "Fancy lady like you, someone's gotta be missing you by now."

Was it her imagination, or did the figurine's eyes glimmer?

She shook her head and set the book down hurriedly when the library phone rang. "Drachenwilde Town Library, Cornelia Dressler speaking, how can I help?" Something definitely moved in the corner of her vision. "Uh-huh," she mumbled. She spun her desk chair round, but everything was just as she had left it. "Sure, I can look that book up for you. Can you give the author's name?"

She cast one protective look back to _Sir Gawain and the Dragon_ – she'd dropped it hastily atop a book her co-worker had been reading – before turning back to the computer. "No, we only have the first three books in that series, I'm afraid. We could order them in from the next town over, but it'll take a few days… oh, and they've hung up." Cornelia lowered the phone. "Charming."

A light flared in the room, brighter than the computer screen, brighter than the desk lamp or the lights above, and Cornelia's vision went pure white. She jolted back, something trickling down her spine and raising hairs, and if she'd been just that little bit more familiar with it, she would have recognised it for the magic it was. She spun round, just in time to see something pull away from her beloved book.

She snatched the book up, and the light died.

"What the…?" Cornelia whispered. She carefully flicked a page open, and nearly dropped it. The pages were bare.

" _No_."

ooOoo

Haru lingered at her bedroom door, a cup of tea cooling in her hands and the evening breeze drifting through the ajar window. She watched Baron write up a case file for their unfortunate holiday in the spirit world, or as best he could manage at his current height. Legs crossed, two stacked books serving as a makeshift desk upon her own desk, with scrolls and ink donated from the Cat Kingdom to serve as writing materials.

He hadn't written a word in the last five minutes. Not since Haru had arrived.

"Miss Haru," he eventually said, "you are more than welcome to make yourself comfortable."

"I know. I'd just prefer to stay on my feet," she replied. She drummed a little tune across the cup with her fingers, searching for something to bridge the gap that had sprung up between them. "Mamoru is doing well," she finally settled on, referring to the komainu Creation they checked up on regularly. "You should have come along."

"Cats and dogs don't mix especially well."

"He's only part dog," Haru protested. "The other half is lion. Which is a cat, so…" She trailed off, losing her momentum when Baron didn't pick up the conversation. She went back to drumming her fingers.

Things had been this way since Kugutsu. Not rude, not outright ignoring, but… strained. There was a weight to the space between them that had taken precedence over the easy friendship that they had previously shared. And Haru would have liked to lay the blame at Baron's feet, but she had borne the unease as much as he had. She had seen something snap in him that day, something cold and calculated and _other_ , and she didn't know what to do about it.

She hadn't brought it up with Toto or Muta. That would make it too real.

Her mind moved onto other things instead.

"I haven't heard from Cornelia in a while," she opted for. She edged in, taking up a seat on the end of her bed. Not at the desk. "You know, the librarian with the _Gawain and the Dragon_ book? We've been keeping in contact since I returned from, well, yeah… but I haven't heard back from her for a few weeks now."

"She may have simply fallen behind on her replies."

"That's what I thought too, but…" She turned the idling cup in her hands, unable to voice the real reason she was bringing it up. "I think it'd be good to check up on her anyway. And without the Sanctuary, it's not as if we've been swamped in new cases recently… It'll do us all some good to get out."

Baron seemed to consider this, and then nodded. "A follow-up with previous clients isn't a bad idea. I'll contact the Cat Kingdom and see if they can organise us a portal to Cornelia's location. Was there anything else?"

Once upon a time, she wouldn't have even hesitated before speaking her mind.

"No. Just that."

ooOoo

Haru dropped out of the portal and slammed face-first into darkness and what felt to be a very uncomfortable wooden cupboard. This was further fortified as Muta smacked into her back and she headbutted a wooden block. She groaned. "Ugh. I miss the Sanctuary portals."

"Ya say that as if the Sanctuary's landings were ever any better."

"Good point." She blinked, and eventually conceded to digging out her phone, making a mental note to bring a torch next time as she switched her mobile's tiny light on. Its illumination settled on the cupboard she had facepalmed, which her eyes were currently trying to tell her was an out-of-focus garden. Her brain caught up a solid second later to inform her it was a painted backdrop.

Finally, when it became clear no one else was going to state the obvious, she said, "We're in a prop room."

Baron finished disentangling himself from the bundle of fake vines he had landed in. "Yes."

" _Why_ are we in a prop room?"

"That is a good question. Toto?"

"Why would I know?"

"Weren't you organising the portal with Natoru?"

"I told him to set us down by Cornelia," Toto said, somewhat crankily which may have been caused by his landing in a plastic bush, "which means either he made a mistake, or Cornelia is indeed somewhere in the vicinity."

"Or she's turned into a piece of furniture," said the remains of a chair.

Haru leant over and picked Muta out of the mess. "Not entirely impossible," she said, "but still fairly unlikely, even for us." She flicked her phone's limited light across the room and focused on a door. She began to pick her way across the clutter.

"Are ya really sure that's a wise idea, Chicky?"

Haru looked doubtfully from Muta to the door and back again. "Oh no," she monotoned, "it's a door." She leant against it, hand raised dramatically to her brow. "Quick. Run for your lives. It's too late for me. Save yourselves."

The door opened and Haru fell backwards and straight into an unfamiliar pair of arms. She tilted her head back to meet the wide-eyed stare of her catcher, a tall woman with long blonde hair, and who looked like she could bench press Haru if she wanted.

"Uh," Haru said intelligibly. She was mildly gratified to see that the woman had also been rendered momentarily speechless, although probably for a vastly different reason.

"What are you doing here?" the woman eventually asked as she helped Haru to her feet. Right. Yes. They had just materialised in a glorified cupboard. They needed reasons.

Haru's eyes caught the woman's cotton t-shirt, with "Twelve Dancing Princesses: Stage Manager" printed across one side. The words were already beginning to shift between Japanese and German, and Haru had to look away before the Sanctuary's dwindling translation magic could give her a headache.

"We've, uh, come to help with scene changes," she managed.

"We?"

"Yes." Brain catching up a little too late, Haru remembered her strange companions. She glanced back and was relieved to see that both Baron and Toto had shifted into their inanimate forms. She couldn't see Muta, but she wasn't about to push her luck. "No," she said. "No we, just me." What was left of her brain panicked, and she dropped into a hasty automatic bow. "I'm Haru. Cornelia asked me to lend a hand."

She rose out of the bow to see the stage manager trying to decide if she believed Haru's clumsy lie. Then she glanced at the multiple backdrops crowding the room. "Cornelia should really have told me first," she murmured, "but we're low on stage crew so…" She sighed. "Alexandria. Stage manager. But just call me Alexa." Haru thought she was about to be offered a hand to shake, but Alexa motioned back into the corridor instead. "Come on – we've got five minutes before the matinee starts." She grabbed a box of mismatched props and headed off.

Haru offered an apologetic glance back to Baron and Toto (and Muta, somewhere) before following Alexa along the narrow corridor running behind the stage. Odd pieces of wood jutted out from the set pieces, and in the darkness were almost impossible to spot before catching a sleeve on it. Haru concentrated on squeezing through with minimal apparel casualties.

The theatre, once they had sidled along to the backstage space, was a smaller affair than Haru had expected. The whole area the stage and audience occupied was more akin to a school assembly hall than the grand theatres Haru had imaged. A dozen young ladies crowded the stage, all dressed in princess finery and lounging across the stage as they waited for the overture.

And, amongst their numbers, sat a familiar redhead librarian.

The woman beside the redhead spotted Haru's stare, nudged her neighbour, and Cornelia Dressler – librarian, ex-client, and apparently part-time thespian – spotted Haru and gave a small wave as if she had no worries in the world. A little surprised at Haru's unannounced arrival, but the Bureau had a penchant for unpredictability.

Maybe Haru had been wrong. Maybe there really was nothing amiss.

And then she realised just who Cornelia's neighbour was and the world turned on its head.

"Lady Elaine?"

And that was when the chandelier fell from the ceiling.

ooOoo

All in all, it could have been worse.

The chandelier was only a prop, made mostly of cardboard and plastic and some limited wiring for lighting effects, but still… even fake chandeliers hurt. Enough to put the sole piano player – the entirety of the 'band' – out of commission with one solid blow to his arm. Not fatal nor broken, but enough for him to be released from musical duty and there was now the issue of who was going to provide the melodies, but that wasn't anything Haru was thinking too hard about right now.

Haru sat on the tree stump prop and turned the note over in her hands.

"You're pulling my leg, right?" she said eventually. She looked up to Cornelia hopefully. "You're not honestly telling me this theatre is _haunted_."

Cornelia's cheeks went a little pink. "Is it any stranger than talking cats?"

"I mean, not in theory," Haru admitted, "but… still, I've never come across any actually real ghosts." She twisted the paper between her fingers. "Certainly not ones that leave signed notes." The writing was neat. Cursive. Even if it hadn't been, she would have still struggled to read it as it flickered between languages. Damn translation magic. "And you're certain it's not just someone playing a really bad practical joke?"

"If it were just the notes, maybe. But we've had all sorts of bad luck happen when we ignore them."

"Like chandeliers falling?"

"Like chandeliers falling and props going missing and someone getting locked in a cupboard for two hours…"

"And all for what?" Haru asked. She read the note again. "So this _Miss Daaé_ can play centre stage? Seems a bit excessive. Maybe Miss Daaé is the one sending them–"

"Oh, she wouldn't," Cornelia said, almost too quickly. "She's not like that."

"I'm just saying – there's a motive–"

One of the directors – Haru hadn't learnt their names – leant round backstage. "Miss Dressler, can you help Miss Daaé? She needs to switch costumes with Ms Giudicelli and proper stage make-up if she's leading."

"So that's it?" Haru asked as the director vanished – probably to deal with the multiple other issues springing up – "You're giving in to this… Opera Ghost's demands? He drops one chandelier and now Miss Daaé will be playing the role of the eldest sister because… he said so?"

"Apparently," Cornelia said. "Look, I've got to go, but I'll catch you during the interval – assuming you're still here?"

"Oh, I'm definitely staying now," Haru replied. "By the way, quick question – how did you get Lady Elaine out of her book? And why didn't you tell us?"

Cornelia looked at her blankly. "Lady Elaine?" she echoed. "Do you mean Elaine Daaé?"

ooOoo

Haru swung into the prop room. "Guys, we have a problem."

"I'll say. The show must go on."

Haru froze. Centring the room – and very definitely a new addition – was a pristine white cat clad in an old-fashioned dress and dusty-pink caplet. Her gloved hands rested on the crook of a matching parasol. The pose reminded Haru of Baron.

Louise grinned. "Hello, Haru."

"What is she doing here?"

"Rude. You could ask me directly, you know. And you can _relax_. We're all friends here."

"I find that hard to believe after our last encounter, Louise," Baron growled.

Haru slowly moved to Baron's side. Subconsciously. Close enough that she could intervene if either made a move.

"Well, that's where you'd be wrong." Louise rocked her head from side-to-side in a so-so fashion that had echoes of Toto. "I mean, if we're getting technical, I'm not _really_ Louise?"

"Are you the Sanctuary then?" Toto asked.

The feline repeated the action. "Kind of?" She considered, and then added, "Okay, so that's not entirely right either. Look, it's complicated and I'm still trying to work it out, so, honestly, good luck getting a straight answer out of me."

"So if you're not Louise and you're not the Sanctuary," Haru prompted, "then who are you?"

"Well, that's the question, isn't it?"

"It is," Haru agreed. "Which is why I'm asking it." She risked glancing sideways to raise a questioning eyebrow at her companions. By the looks of things, they were just as at a loss as she was. This was not the Louise she remembered.

The strange cat nodded sagely. "Very good point. I think I'm sort of both? Plus a little bit more." She hooked the curved handle of her parasol over the crook of her arm, just as Haru had seen Baron with his cane many times before. "So, the original Louise spent decades trapped in the Sanctuary, right? Which," she continued, before anyone could answer, "I am not holding a grudge for. New me, after all. But, it did mean that the souls of Louise and the Sanctuary got a little mixed over the years and when the Duke took back the rest of Louise's soul, he took some of the Sanctuary with it, and ta-da." She waved her hands at her sides. "Here I am. Mostly Louise with a side-serving of the Sanctuary."

"Mostly?" Haru echoed.

"Well, there is the added bonus that being dumped in a body that wasn't my original one – I mean, it's pretty darn close, but no cigar – seems to have… reset? Rebooted me? Basically, I got a clean slate, including my original purpose." The feline paused, and then shrugged. "Not that I can recall what it was anyway." She beamed. "I'm possibly one of the only Creations ever to not have a purpose. How weird is that?"

Haru glanced to the rest of the Bureau, who were still taking this in. "You're not how I imagined you," she said eventually. She wondered if it was possible for Creations to get drunk. Or high. Catnip, maybe?

"Well, I'm not going to be the Louise you knew. I'm like Louise Version 2. Hang on, are we considering who Louise was meant to be before the war changed her? Because then I'm more like Louise Version 3, but then, Version 1 didn't really do much except to turn into Louise Version 2–"

"Um…"

She nodded. "You're right. This is getting needlessly complicated. Let's call me Louise 2.0. Or just Louise, for short. But, yes, I won't be the Louise from before. Like I said, reboot and all that. Plus, I've got a side order of the Sanctuary's personality, and then…" Louise turned and focused all her attention on Haru. "There's you. Miss Haru Yoshioka."

Haru had to resist the urge to point at herself, just to make sure Louise wasn't mistaken.

"You shared your memories with the Sanctuary, just before it shut itself away, didn't you?"

"Well, yes, but that was _after_ your soul had been separated," Haru pointed out.

Louise waved the issue away. "There was still just enough connection for me to see those memories. And let me tell you, for a Creation who's literally just been reforged with no idea of who she is, your memories were a _trip_."

"I thought I only shared memories from the parallel worlds," Haru said. "Just so the Sanctuary knew what would happen if it collapsed."

"Like anything is as clear cut as that. So there I was, literally thirty seconds old, and I'm getting this influx of memories and emotions and personality through you, and that kind of changes a gal." Louise laughed. "Do you have any idea how much useless pop culture I now know? All those little facts and figures that you just pick up while living in the modern world, and I got it all downloaded into my head like that." She clicked her fingers. "I've had _Never Gonna Give You Up_ stuck in my head for _two weeks_ now."

Haru resisted the urge to snort. Instead she managed, "That's… not that modern a song."

"I don't care. It was a song you knew when you mind-melded with the Sanctuary and so I know it too. Also 'not that modern' – do you have any idea how old Louise is? How old the _Sanctuary_ is?"

Haru glanced to Baron to see if she had her facts right. "You're about… eighty, right? As for the Sanctuary… no clue. How old is the Sanctuary anyway?"

The rest of the Bureau shrugged. Even Louise looked a little flummoxed. "I'm not actually sure," she admitted. "But my point is, it's modern by my standards. It's modern and it's in my head."

"Are you blaming me for knowing a song from the 80's?" Haru asked. She hesitated and quickly added, "And your personality?"

"Song, yes. Personality, not so much. Your memories just added an extra spice into the mix that created me as I am now." She beamed. "I'm like a baby. Except with, you know, a complex understanding of magical theory, fine motor skills, and memories."

"So how exactly are you like a baby?"

Louise considered this. "Not much," she conceded. "I was thinking more along the lines that I'm still new. I'm still in that stage as a Creation where I'm soaking in everything around me. In hindsight, I'm more like somebody's taken half a dozen books, shuffled their pages, and taken parts of out each to make a whole new book. I'm not exactly 100% original, but I'm still different." She frowned. "That's a much better analogy. Can we pretend I said that one first and not the baby one?"

There was a silence from the Bureau. Eventually Haru managed, "You talk a lot."

Louise nodded. "Yes." She paused. "Was that a criticism?"

Haru shook her head weakly. "More like an observation."

"Louise," Baron stepped forward, and there was something taut in his form. Taut and unfamiliar and _other_. "What are you doing here?"

Louise leant back where she stood, clearly not intimidated, but like she was simply trying to better appraise the situation. "Oh, that's not the Baron I knew. _Either_ of me knew. Why so serious?" She paused, frowned, and then pointed to Haru. "It's your fault I'm quoting the Joker right now."

"Louise," Baron growled.

"Wow, you're really not messing around, are you?" She glanced to Haru, and this time there was a question in her eyes. She looked back to Baron. "Scouts' honour, I was just here to help. I thought, I don't have a purpose, so why not make my own? So I thought I would try to help people, which I know is your thing, but I think I could have a real knack at it. I have some excess magic bleeding off me after being part of the Sanctuary – more magic than this body can hold – so I thought I would put it to some good use. There was this lonely little girl in a museum, so I decided I'd give her a friend – and she'd spent so much time around that dinosaur that it was almost part-Creation already, so all it needed was a little… push."

"You're the one who released the Gist!" Haru cried.

"The what?"

"The dinosaur," Toto explained.

"Oh. Ooooh, _that_ Gist."

"It went crazy and attacked people!"

"In my defence, I didn't realise my magic would confuse it. But, up to the point where it went crazy and attacked people, things were going pretty well, I like to think."

"And Lady Elaine?" Haru prompted. "What did you do to her and Cornelia?"

"What's happened to Cornelia?" Toto asked.

"She doesn't remember our last adventure. She remembers me and the Bureau, but she doesn't recall anything of our time in the book."

"Sometimes that happens, Chicky. Humans forget their time with magic. Ya'll get used to it–"

"And Lady Elaine is out of her story," Haru finished.

There was a stunned silence. Then the Bureau looked simultaneously to Louise.

"Why are you looking at me as if I've messed up?" she asked. "I would have thought you'd be delighted – haven't you been trying to find a way to release Lady Elaine all this time? True, it used up most of the Sanctuary magic that was left in me – I wasn't left with _all_ the Sanctuary magic, obviously; that would destroy me, just a few fragments – but I was able to release the story from its book. Well, the characters more than the narrative."

"Characters?" Haru echoed. "Plural?"

Louise considered. "Most of the main ones," she said. "I mean, I _was_ aiming for just Lady Elaine, but it's a tricky business and things might have gotten out of hand. I hear Sir Gawain is running about somewhere, but I haven't been keeping an eye out for him–"

"There was a dragon in that book!"

"And now there isn't."

"So where is it?"

Louise shrugged. "Oh, I'm sure it'll turn up at some point. I _did_ reunite the librarian and her knight though, so I feel I should get kudos points for that. Lady Elaine is in the real world, thanks to me."

"And a dragon," Haru added weakly. "Don't forget the dragon."

Louise nodded. "A slight oversight on my part, I'll admit."

"Okay," Haru said, although it very clearly wasn't. "Okay, okay, so that explains why Lady Elaine is up and about – we'll worry about the dragon later – but that doesn't explain why neither recall what happened or why there's an opera ghost running around the place. I'm pretty sure he wasn't in the book." She glanced sideways to the rest of the Bureau. "He wasn't, was he? I'm not just forgetting, am I?"

"No. There was no Opera Ghost in _Sir Gawain and the Dragon_ ," Baron said. "Louise?"

"Don't look at me. I have no clue. Unless…"

"Unless?" Baron prompted. The question was verging on hostile.

Louise shrugged. "Okay, so I _may_ be responsible for this little mess-up. In my defence," she added, hands already rising to calm the outrage before it could start, "I _am_ still learning and there's bound to be a few missteps along the way."

"Yeah, but why'd it have to be dinosaurs and dragons?" Muta muttered.

"What did you do, Louise?"

"I wasn't to know the magic would bleed through and release the story from the book beneath!" she protested.

"So there are two sets of fictional characters running around?" Toto asked.

"No. Just the one." Louise did have the common sense to look somewhat sheepish at this point. "The magic wasn't enough to do anything more than release the narrative from the spare book. Right now I'd guess that everyone is sort of stuck in that storyline, which is why Lady Elaine and Cornelia can't remember their true origins. It doesn't fit the narrative."

"And which book is that?" Baron asked.

"Oh my god," Haru said, the final few pieces clicking into place. "It's _Phantom of the Opera_. This is a real _Phantom of the Opera_ story."

"Well, not perfectly," Louise added, although she perhaps didn't realise it wasn't as reassuring as she'd hoped. "The magic wasn't enough to do a carbon copy. Just… the general gist. You know, masked man hiding beneath the theatre, obsessed with his protégé soprano, chaos ensues." She grinned. "Quite how it could end is anyone's guess."

"And we stop that _how_?"

"You don't. It should play itself out and then Lady Elaine and Cornelia will be free. Happy endings for everyone."

"You just said that the ending wasn't guaranteed the book's ending," Toto said. "That means it could also end in catastrophe."

Louise nodded. "Yes." She paused. "Ah."

"No offence," Muta said, without too much sincerity in his first words, "but maybe you should rethink the whole helping-shtick."

"I'm beginning to think it's perhaps not my strongest suit." Louise brightened. "But I can still help the show go on."

"How…?" Haru asked tentatively. "The pianist is out of commission right now."

"Oh, really. Think outside the box, please," Louise said, and she leapt forward, her arm curling around Baron's arm and a jolt of something – pure magic – rippled through the air, and Baron ripped her grip away just as light began to overtake him.

"Louise, what–" he growled and then his voice vanished in the light.

"You'll thank me!" she called over the _whumpf_ of magic. "Well," she added, "maybe."

The light abated and a human man was left in Baron's place. Light grey suit, top hat, startlingly green eyes. He raised his hand. Saw the slither of human flesh between glove and sleeve, and moved towards Louise.

Haru swept into motion in a blur of instinct and it was only as she was between Baron and Louise that she wondered just what kind of instinct had spurred her into action. She had a hand to Baron's chest in a gesture procured to keep him from… what? Her mind didn't complete the sentence. She raised her gaze from her hand to his eyes and part of her was very aware she was suddenly close – very close – to Baron, but there was quite another reason her heart raced right now.

"Baron?" She hadn't meant it to come as a question. "Are you okay? _Baron_."

It took a long heartbeat for him to drag his gaze away from Louise. When his eyes met Haru's, they cleared. "Surprised," he said eventually. He looked back to Louise. "Why?"

"They need a pianist – and one that can reach the keys. Now they have one. Also, you've got to admit you're a much more useful height for kicking ghost butt now."

"I don't have to admit to anything."

"It's not permanent, is it?" Haru asked.

"No, I don't think even the Sanctuary in all its full power could do that – not outside its walls, anyway. No, Humbert's human for… ah, about three hours. Give or take. Enough time to cover the show."

"You could have warned me," Baron said hoarsely.

"You wouldn't have trusted me."

"For good reason."

"Ouch. I mean, you've got a point, but still. You wound me."

The prop room door opened and Alexa jolted when she saw its occupants. "Oh. I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

Haru stepped away from Baron – or as much as she could in the small confines of the room. "No. Why?"

Alexa's eyes flicked between the two humans. "No reason," she said. "Who's the guy?"

Haru's mind fumbled for an answer. In the end, all she could think of was, "This is Humbert. I called him to fill in for the pianist."

Alexa stared. "Well, that's the first bit of good news I've heard all day. Come on, I'll introduce you to the music director and run you through the cues."

Haru glanced once back to the rest of the Bureau and Louise. "Don't do anything rash while I'm gone," she said, and she hurried after Baron and Alexa.

ooOoo

There wasn't much room backstage, but – as the newly appointed lead role – Lady Elaine had managed to acquire one of the few solo dressing rooms. Or Elaine Daaé, as her name now seemed to be. Haru quietly googled the plot of _The Phantom of the Opera_ while Cornelia carefully reapplied the make up.

After being reassured that Baron would be preoccupied with learning his new – albeit unexpected – position, she had gone to locate the two ex-clients. The little dressing room was an island of peace amongst the rest of the theatre's panic.

"You know, I was quite happy as the sixth sister," Lady Elaine said. "I never asked the Opera Ghost to do any of this."

Cornelia was biting her lip as she leant into apply eyeshadow, a hand cupping Lady Elaine's cheek. "Hm-mm," she mumbled. "You _do_ have a good singing voice though."

"Enough to cause all this fuss?"

"Well, I _am_ a little biased."

"Oh, shush."

"And you do have the prettiest eyes."

Lady Elaine grinned. "The audience won't get close enough to see that though."

"They don't know what they're missing out on – would you stop moving your head?"

"Would you stop flirting then?"

Cornelia visibly blushed. "Look, this eyeliner needs to be straight, regardless of whether or not you are."

Haru smiled to herself as she skimmed through the character list of _The Phantom of the Opera_. Maybe Louise wasn't as bad at this helping malarkey as they'd thought. Well. Apart from the dinosaur and dragon and ghost thing.

Okay, she mentally summarised, so if Lady Elaine's name was now Elaine Daaé, that probably put her as Christine Daaé, the soprano protagonist of the book. Haru skimmed through the webpage and hoped the story was somewhat similar to the movie. She remembered the movie. Had never read the book. Cornelia wasn't part of either book, so she had probably escaped being cast in this story, although she was definitely involved by merit of her relationship with Lady Elaine. That just left the dragon and Sir Gawain the Dauntless–

The door swung open and the knight in question entered. Or, ex-knight, as seemed to be the case. Haru had to lean back to make room for him in the tiny room. "Elaine! I thought I recognised the name! How the years have passed since our last encounter!"

"Is he allowed backstage?" Haru whispered to Cornelia.

"If he's not, then technically neither are you," Cornelia whispered back, but she didn't seem wholly impressed either.

"Gawain?" Lady Elaine said. "Gawain de Chagny? What are you doing here–?"

"I'm one of the patrons of the theatre society. I came to see the show – and I knew it was you the moment the directors announced the new Ada will be played by a Miss Elaine Daaé." He took her hand and performed a funny little bow that wouldn't have been out of place in either his original book or _The Phantom of the Opera,_ but felt entirely misplaced in the 21st Century. "A pleasure to meet you once again."

"Elaine," Cornelia said, sidling back over to her, "do you know this man?"

"Yes – we were childhood friends, but we haven't seen one another in years."

Haru furiously scrolled back to the character list and, after a little confusion, located the surname and backstory.

"Oh heck," Haru said to herself. "He's Raoul."

**ooOoo**

**Teaser:** _**"Okay, so there's good news and there's bad news. Good news: we know exactly what is going on. Bad news: what is going on is that Lady Elaine has been kidnapped by your self-proclaimed Opera Ghost." / Oh god, Haru thought, we're about to get a client barbequed. /** _ **_"You didn't turn him human just to keep the show going, did you?"_ / _"It's wrong. This… all of this," and the Opera Ghost motioned distractedly to… the world in general, "is wrong._ This isn't how the story goes. _"_**


	8. Episode 8: A Librarian and Her Knight (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the cast of Sir Gawain and the Dragon stuck inside the narrative of The Phantom of the Opera, the Bureau must safely navigate through a plot embroiled with kidnapping, possessive Opera Ghosts, and near-death experiences. Also included in this case: pre-rescuing, piano duty, and answers that Haru doesn't want to hear.

_The Bureau Files: Series 5_

**ooOoo**

**Episode 8: A Librarian and Her Knight (Part 2)**

Watching a musical with only half-functioning translation magic was… an experience.

Haru understood the spoken parts well enough – the latent Sanctuary effects were still strong with regular speech – but it seemed lyrical translation was another kettle of fish. Sometimes the rhyming pattern slipped, or lyrics overran their bars, or if they did rhyme it was only due to a mangling of the Japanese language. And naturally a lot of the songs were fast-paced and lyric-heavy and sometimes seemed to be about very little indeed.

Most of it was sung.

Haru googled the plot of _Twelve Dancing Princesses_ instead and immediately spoiled the ending for herself.

Beside her, Alexa was looking over what appeared to be a length of rope between her hands, the dim off-stage light making the task a laborious one. Eventually Haru gave up trying to follow the play and shuffled over. "What's that?" she whispered.

"The rope we had holding the chandelier," Alexa whispered back.

"Was it cut?"

"No." She brought it up to a shaft of light cast from the stage. The ends weren't clearly sliced, but neither were they naturally frayed; instead they were blackened, strands fused together in a dark, melted mess. "It looks like it was burnt. And that's what I don't get. Why go to such lengths to break it? Why not just cut it?"

Haru peered at the remains, a niggling thought wriggling in the back of her mind. She got the feeling she already knew the answer, if only she lined the pieces up correctly.

With a mental _ping_ , the puzzle slotted together.

" _Oh_."

ooOoo

"I know who all the other players are."

Baron paused midway in closing the piano lid. "Pardon?"

Haru leant over the lowered pit, ignoring the jostle of audience members struggling to grab ice cream and toilet breaks before the interval ended. "I know who everyone else in the book is," she repeated smugly.

He tilted his head. "Then you'd better take a seat. Mind the rest – they're keeping a low profile down here."

Haru clambered down into the pit where the piano stood, surprisingly private given its proximity to the stage. Baron shuffled along on the wide seat to give her a perch. "Your conclusion?"

"My conclusion. Right." She started to cross her ankles, but quickly stopped when she nearly kicked Toto. "Sorry. Yes. Sir Gawain is Raoul de Chegny."

"Chagny," Baron amended.

"Yes. That. And the dragon is the Phantom."

There was a small bubble of silence.

"Right," Toto said eventually. "The Phantom. And how does that work?"

"Well, I obviously haven't figured it all out yet," Haru said, a smidgen defensively. "But it makes sense, right? The antagonist of one book would be the antagonist of another. And," she added, " _and_ the rope that held the chandelier was burnt. Which seems really random unless the Phantom happens to have originally been a fire-breathing dragon."

"It does sound plausible."

"And it means that we have only one danger running amok."

"Yeah," Muta grunted, "but it's still a dragon."

"We've stopped it before."

"With the medieval equivalent of a laser pointer, yeah. I don't think it'll work a second time."

"I've packed an actual laser point anyway, just in case."

Baron's eye twitched. "As long as it's only used on the dragon."

Haru patted him. "Relax. You're still a human for the next… hour and a half? It probably won't affect you."

"Probably," Muta echoed with a snicker.

"Would it be too much to hope that anyone has a plan?" Haru asked, moving the conversation along.

"I _would_ have worked on a plan, but I was put on piano duty."

"And a lovely job you've done of it too," Louise piped up. "How are Cornelia and Lady Elaine doing? Amnesia aside, naturally."

"Good," Haru said. "They're doing… good." She offered a rueful smile. "You still need to work on your helping habits, but they… well, you did a good job of getting them back together."

Louise beamed. "I'm not so bad when it comes to matters of the heart."

"Don't let it go to your head. There's still a dragon on the loose."

Louise waved it away. "Baby steps. Baby steps. As for a plan, I think the obvious thing would be to let the story run its course. At the end of it, _The Phantom of the Opera_ narrative should release everyone and they should regain their memories."

"Should?" Toto echoed doubtfully.

"It's magic. Not science. But I am fairly certain my theory is sound."

"How certain?" Baron asked.

Louise hesitated. "Let's not start putting numbers to this. It's the likeliest outcome, that's all I'll say. So all we need to do is watch over the story and make sure it doesn't veer off into any… unwanted directions."

"In the book, Christine Daaé gets kidnapped and Raoul almost killed," Haru deadpanned.

"But they all live in the end, right?"

"I'm sorry," Baron said, not sounding too sorry at all, "but are you implying that we allow Lady Elaine to get _kidnapped_?"

"Don't think of it as getting kidnapped. Just as getting pre-rescued. Anyway, I'm just saying that if we don't, we'll have no idea how the story will react. Maybe the Opera Ghost goes away. Maybe it doesn't. Maybe it goes to more extreme lengths. Maybe we break the story and it never finishes and Cornelia and Lady Elaine never regain their memories. Which option do you want to place your bets on?"

Haru curled a hand around Baron's arm. "I think she might have a point," she said softly. "We did the same when we were stuck in _Sir Gawain and the Dragon_ , and that turned out alright."

She could see him weighing up the options in his mind, and then finally nodded. "Fine. We will play by your plan, Louise, but if anything goes amiss–"

She held up her hands. "I know, I know, you'll hold me accountable, I get it." She hopped down to an open ledge running beneath the piano. "And, as fun as it'll be to stay and watch you judge me, I'm off to keep watch on our two lovebirds. Make sure nothing goes too wrong before it's due to."

"I'm going too," Toto said. "I have a feeling we're going to need the book this story originated from. Louise, where is Cornelia's copy of _Sir Gawain and the Dragon_?"

"I think she brought it with her. It should be in one of the backstage rooms."

"And you, Muta?" Haru asked as Muta started scurrying towards the audience.

"Uh, to keep an ear out for rumours?"

"And definitely not to beg for ice cream off people?"

"Uh…"

"Muta, you're a cat. Can you even eat ice cream? Aren't you lactose intolerant or something?"

"Only a little."

"And you know cats aren't allowed in the theatre, right?" she added. "Don't get spotted!" She watched him leave with only a slight air of resignation. "I don't know why I bother worrying anymore. He'll do what he always does."

An announcement chimed over the theatre babble, alerting the audience that Act Two would be beginning shortly.

"And that's my cue. I hope Alexa isn't too mad that I accidentally skipped changing the set." She started to rise, but hesitated as an arm curled about her waist.

"Stay a moment longer," Baron said. "Please."

Haru sank back into the seat, her nerves buzzing where the arm lingered. "Is there a problem?"

"No. I just… I've just missed this."

On the verge of reminding him that they'd spent such time like this only the week before during their holiday, Haru hesitated. The words caught in her mouth, like treacle, as her mind played over how that not-case had ended. Kugutsu. Her mother and Muta.

Baron with the mirror.

She stood abruptly in a flurry of harried movements, before she could think through what she was doing, before her mind could even register her actions. The space between them suddenly more than just a distance. "I…" she stuttered when her brain realised she was on her feet. "I should go. I did promise Alexa I would help and you… you need to be ready for Act Two intro."

"Haru…?"

"I'm fine."

"I didn't ask you if you were fine," Baron carefully reminded her. "Is there something I should know?"

She met his gaze. Then looked away. "I'm fine," she repeated. Quieter. "Everything… Everything is fine." And she turned and slipped away back off-stage, passing by Alexa as she went.

"Where were you? I thought you said you were going to help with the scene changes–"

"I'm sorry!" Haru called. "I've gotta find someone!"

She only vaguely registered Alexa throwing up her hands in defeat before she continued backstage into the dressing rooms. Cornelia and Lady Elaine both jumped at her approach, mid-way through conversation.

"Is that the curtain call?" Cornelia asked. "We're not on until the next scene, so should be fine–"

Haru located the wooden figurine propped into a corner and grabbed it. "I'm just gonna borrow this, don't mind me."

"Sure – we figured someone had left it behind–"

Haru disappeared out, squeezing past the amassment of crew and cast until she located the fire exit door. The cold afternoon air hit her like a wall, but the alleyway behind the theatre was quiet and unassuming and that was all she needed. She set Louise down on a skip bin and waited impatiently for the Creation to change to her animated form.

"You didn't turn him human just to keep the show going, did you?" Haru asked the moment the light display settled down.

Louise brushed an imaginary speck of dust off her dress. "If Baron finds out I left Cornelia and Lady Elaine unattended, I shall never hear the end of it, I hope you know that."

"Answer the question."

Louise sighed and tucked her handkerchief in a pocket of her skirts. "And you didn't bring him here just to check up on Cornelia."

"I'm not – I don't–"

"Not so much fun when the boot's on the other foot, is it?" Still, Louise's eyes were not unkind. A trifle sad, and that caught Haru off-guard.

"I mean," Haru eventually managed, "it's just as well we did, with all the dragons and phantoms and magic running amok."

"Technically only one dragon and phantom," Louise corrected. "But you had no way of knowing that when you suggested coming here."

"Cornelia had been late with her replies. So it wasn't entirely out of the blue, and… how do you know this was my idea anyway?"

"You forget; part of me is – _was_ – the Sanctuary. I've watched you for a long time and this has your fingerprints all over it."

Haru didn't answer immediately. Then, "You still didn't answer me. Why did you turn him human?"

"Oh, for a myriad of reasons. It seemed like a good idea at the time. It was funny. To help the play go on because the story demands it and Cornelia and Lady Elaine are far too adorable together to let that boat sail. To show I mean no harm. To keep him occupied. To maybe help you and him along. Take your pick."

Haru's mind shuddered to a halt at the last one. "What?"

"To help him. And you. Two for the price of one, as they say–"

"No, I heard, I just…" Haru floundered for words. "What do you mean?"

"What do you _think_ I mean? The Sanctuary has been watching the two of you dance around your feelings for far too long and, let me tell you, it's been a _doozy_ of a show. Did you really think I was going to pass up on a golden opportunity like this?"

"We never asked you to."

"And _that's_ why I had to help." Louise shrugged. "He told you he loved you, back in the world of your mind, do you remember? Of course you do. And yet, what has changed since then? Have you taken those next steps, or have you fallen back into familiar comforting patterns? What have those three words done for you?"

Haru opened her mouth to protest, but the words didn't come. She wanted to talk of the moments they had shared since her return to reality, of sitting with him along the Lazy River, of the way he held her now – differently, more personally – but on the edge of those memories was something sharper. Shifts in behaviour. The edge of someone she didn't recognise.

She didn't answer.

Louise clicked her tongue. "With the Sanctuary gone, I imagine it's not so easy to spend time together like you used to. I'm just giving you an extra chance. Enjoy it while it lasts."

Haru shook her head, sharply, dismissing the subject and finally taking note of the second-to-last reason Louise had listed. "What do you mean about keeping him occupied?"

"Same reason you brought him here. Well, not the same reason, but the same cause."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

" _Sure_ you don't," crooned Louise. "Don't lie to me and, more importantly, don't lie to yourself. If I know something's wrong with him just from one meeting, I know you must have realised too."

"I'm not sure there _is_ something wrong with him," Haru said. "He's just… there's something… _different_."

"Dangerous. Emotional. Unfamiliar," Louise supplied.

"I thought… I thought maybe it was just, things had happened in the year I was gone, that it had unsettled him, and if I only gave him the time he needed…" She trailed off, remembering Kugutsu. "Maybe it is, but… I don't know." She chuckled humourlessly. "Are there therapists for Creations?"

Louise echoed the same hollow laugh. "If there are, I could have really done with one eighty years ago." She looked to Haru out of the corner of her eye. "You brought him here to remind him of what he does, didn't you?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"Not to him." She shrugged again. "Maybe it'll help. Maybe returning to a routine he knows, doing what he knows, will bring some comfort to him. But you have to consider the possibility that it won't. That this is who he is now. That there's another, more permanent reason for his shift in behaviour."

Haru didn't reply.

Louise continued.

"Do you remember how he brought you back from the void between worlds?"

"Yeah."

"Did he tell the others?"

"Which part?"

"You know which part."

Haru took a long, slow breath. "He told Muta and Toto that with the Duke's help he was able to bring back my memories." A beat. "He didn't tell them that he'd had to permanently fuse back with the Duke to do that. It was a battle of personalities to become the dominant side. Baron won. The Duke is gone." She spoke the words, but they felt meaningless. Hollow. Clean. So simple compared to the memory that remained.

"Yes," Louise said. "I suppose that is true enough."

Silence lingered between them. The faint strain of music rang through the theatre.

"You don't think…" Haru began, and then faltered.

"I do, in fact, think," Louise said. "It's getting my mind to shut up that's the trick."

Haru allowed a half-smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "There's not a chance that the Duke… that he's still there. In Baron's mind, somehow?"

"Oh, he's definitely still there." At Haru's horrified look, Louise chuckled wanly. "Don't worry. He's not some sort of discorporate voice, whispering into Baron's head. No, there's not enough of the Duke left for that."

"How can you be so sure?"

Louise looked to her. "Because the same thing happened to me, but in my case the other side won. Right now, the Duke is nothing more than instinct and thought and emotion."

"All the sadness and anger…"

Louise tilted her head. "Yes. All of that is back in Baron. Just like it is for anyone. The only difference is Baron has had a comfy eighty-year sabbatical from those feelings. He's having to learn. Fast."

"And it's changing him."

Louise's eyes softened. "He'll never be exactly the same person you knew," she said. "The same person you fell in love with. Truth is, he _is_ going to be different. But he also has a lifetime of experience and he has you – the Bureau. Friends. A family in every way but blood. More than I had when I lost that internal battle. Haru, life, in general, changes people, and we have to learn to live with that."

"Even if the changes are ones we don't like?"

"Then you have a choice – to help, or to walk away."

"That's not a choice."

"That's always a choice," Louise said, her voice gentle. "You can love someone with all your heart, and still decide that the best thing for you both is to walk away. There is no shame in that."

Haru didn't reply immediately. Couldn't.

"How do I help?" she asked eventually.

"I'm not the expert in this, but I imagine the same way you help anyone. By talking. And listening."

Haru gave a humourless snort beneath her breath. "It sounds so easy when you put it like that."

There was a scream. Muffled through the theatre walls, but definitely a scream. A crash. More screams. Haru cursed, grabbed Louise, and slammed back inside. She caught a woman she recognised as one of the twelve princesses. "What's going on?"

"There's… there's – Elaine–" the woman gasped.

"What?!"

"Someone's kidnapped Elaine! On stage!"

Haru released the princess and barrelled further into the theatre, eventually coming to the stage where a crowd of cast and crew were amassing towards the back. She located Baron, accompanied by Toto and Muta.

"What happened?" She had to shout to be heard. "Apparently Lady Elaine–"

"Is gone," Baron finished. "Yes, I know." His gaze moved to Louise in Haru's grasp. "I thought you were watching them–"

Haru moved her shoulder between him and Louise. "That's my fault. I pulled her aside to talk." She met his gaze, daring him to berate her for that. "Anyway, we knew this was going to happen. It's in the book. How was she kidnapped?"

Baron took a beat to answer. When he did, he almost sounded back to himself. "Someone knocked out the person playing the prince, and took his place. The prince disguises himself in a cloak and hood for that scene, so no one realised anything was amiss until too late." He pointed to the centre of the crowds. "They triggered a trap door in the stage and vanished through it. No one's been able to get it open again since."

"So, as the book goes then."

Baron shot Louise a look.

"How do they manage to find the Phantom and Christine again in the book?" Haru asked, quickly moving the conversation on.

"A mysterious opera regular shows Raoul down to the Phantom's lair," Louise said.

"But we don't _have_ a mysterious opera regular," Toto pointed out.

"I did say the plot wouldn't be a perfect fit." Louise hummed to herself. "But we do have a Raoul, so if we stick close to him, we should be able to keep track of the story. Talking of which, where is he?"

Haru pointed to where Sir Gawain had joined the crew gathered on stage. He was currently in the process of being dragged away from it all by Cornelia and Alexa. Among the chaos, no one else spotted them leaving, or even the strange collection of humans and animals that followed after. The Bureau caught up with them as they reached the prop room.

"–stories of passages beneath the theatre," Alexa was saying as they approached, "but we've always kept the entrances locked." She hauled aside a painted backdrop and several pieces of fake fencing to reveal a small doorway in the side of the wall, only a metre or so high, with a round brass handle and a half-rusted lock. She brought out a handful of keys from her pocket. "These are all the keys we have, I don't even know what half of them are for, but hopefully at least one of them…"

"We could be here for a while," Muta grunted.

"No one's had cause to open any of these doors in all the years I've worked here; frankly it'll be a minor miracle if these do work–" Alexa paused and then slowly turned her head to the strange assortment of individuals. "Did that cat just talk?"

"Er," Muta said. "Meow?"

Haru sighed. "Yes, he can talk."

Alexa stared. Finally, she managed, "You know cats aren't allowed in the theatre, right?"

"Neither is kidnapping, lady. Which one are ya gonna argue with right now?"

She stared for a moment longer and then turned back to the lock.

Cornelia sidled up to Haru, her gaze shifting over the rest of the Bureau. There was quite a different question in her eyes.

"Who's the new guy?" she asked.

"New guy?"

Cornelia nodded towards Baron. "Is he new?"

Haru exhaled. This was going to get complicated. "How much do you remember?"

"About?"

"Us. The Bureau. Last time we met."

The librarian squinted. "Not much. It's… hazy. I know I've met you before, but… I don't exactly remember how. There was you… and a cat… two cats, and a guy. Not that one," she added, eyes flickering to Baron. What happened?"

"What usually happens to us. Chaos." Haru pointed to Toto, who was resting on Baron's shoulder. "That's Toto. He's the man you remember from the last time he met." Toto dipped his head. "He's actually usually a crow, you just met him when he had been turned to human."

"And the other cat. The…" Cornelia frowned as she attempted to recall the murky memory. "The ginger one."

Haru pointed to the now-human Baron. "That's him."

"So… is he usually a human and was just a cat the last time we met or…?"

"No. He's usually… more cat-like. Not as cat-like as the last time you saw him but…" Haru shook her head and decided that Creation explanations were perhaps a little too much for today. "He's like a ginger version of Louise," she decided upon, and she turned the Creation she was still holding towards Cornelia.

"Hello," Louise said. "You should know that we have this all under control and there is absolutely no reason to worry. The Bureau is on the case."

"Are you another member of the Bureau?" Cornelia asked.

"No," Baron answered quickly.

Haru shot him a look and set Louise onto her shoulder. "She's helping out."

"She caused this mess."

"As if we haven't done that plenty of times," Haru reminded him.

The juddering creak of a much-rusted door opening broke the conversation, and Alexa stood back up. "Talking time is over, people, time we got going. Everyone ready?"

"Can we say no?"

Haru nudged Muta. "Yeah. We're ready."

"I still think calling the police would be a better bet."

"Yeah, but that isn't how the story went." Haru cupped a hand around Louise to keep her steady while she ducked down through the door. From the entrance, the ceiling didn't rise, but steps descended deeper into the theatre's belly. After a few metres, Haru was able to stand without hitting her head.

"Are you okay there, Haru?" Louise asked.

"Ngh," Haru said.

"It's simply that your breathing has accelerated somewhat."

"Tight spaces," Haru grunted. "Not great."

"There is no shame in sitting out–"

"I said _not great_ , not _impossible_." Still, her hands were clammy as they brushed against the old stonework, the way lit by bracketed torches along the walls that managed to bear no flame but somehow still produce light. She tried not to think too hard about it. She suspected the answer was 'magic'.

"So do we actually have a plan?" Her voice echoed off along the walls, reminding her just how close her space was. She carried on, barrelling past the nerves. "I know it's stupidly optimistic of me, but what can I say? I remain ever hopeful that one of these days we'll go up against something that wants to eat us with more than just a plucky attitude and fast legs."

Louise patted her shoulder, and something about the motion told Haru that Louise knew she was rambling to keep her fear at bay.

"In the book," Toto said, "Christine and Raoul manage to talk their way out of the situation without the need for violence. If reality is still obeying that narrative, we should be able to follow suit."

Haru snorted. "Luckily, charm is what the Bureau is known for."

"Believe it or not, the Bureau has been able to use diplomacy in the past to resolve cases."

"I'll believe it when I see it, Toto." Haru stopped, bringing their little band to a halt as the corridor abruptly widened and the steps gave way to a level platform. Before her was a lake.

Alexa whistled. The sound bounced. "This was not on the layout plans I remember."

"Anyone see a way of getting across?" Cornelia asked.

Louise tssked. "Okay, so, good news, bad news. Good news is I see a boat. Bad news is it's on the other side." She tilted her head back to survey the group. "I don't suppose anyone brought an inflatable dinghy along? No? Shame."

"I've got an idea," Muta said, "but it's a stupid one."

"Let's hear it."

"Well, if we can't get across, then we get them to come to us."

"You mean attract the Opera Ghost's attention," Haru translated.

"Why not? It ain't as if we were gonna be able to sneak up on them even if we did have a boat."

"I suppose not." Haru looked to Baron. "Thoughts?"

"It's exceedingly rash."

"And?"

He sighed. "And the only plan we have."

"So?"

He sighed again. "Let's just hope our voices carry across to the other side."

ooOoo

The Opera Ghost was having an exceedingly bad day.

Not only had the music directors initially ignored her demand for Elaine Daaé to play the leading role until she'd resorted to sabotaging the stage, but then the de Chagny patron had appeared and the Opera Ghost had, somehow, _instinctively_ , known the man would be nothing but trouble.

And if that wasn't enough, there had been a budding headache pressing against her temples for the last few days.

Images superimposed themselves before her eyes; a mismatch of reality. Theatres and towers. Fire and spotlights. Costumes and armour. Like a misstep on stairs, everything seemed off-kilter.

Two lives jostled for attention.

Neither one quite real.

Elaine Daaé watched the proceedings from the sidelines, still dressed in her princess costume even if it did look a little worse for wear after traipsing through the underground passages, but otherwise undaunted. She leant her elbows on her knees, chin on folded hands.

"You are not what I expected," she said.

The Ghost raised her head, focusing on Daaé through the mask that covered her face. "How so?" Her voice was husky, husky enough to pass for a tenor. Faint tendrils of smoke dripped from the seams of the mask.

Daaé stared for a moment longer, her eyes dancing over the white mask and then focusing on the Ghost's own flickering, fiery eyes. "Well, for starters, you may have taught me how to sing, but I fail to see how that gives you any right–"

"I didn't."

Daaé raised an eyebrow. "I was still talking."

"I didn't teach you to sing," the Ghost repeated, her voice catching.

"Yes, you did–"

"You _think_ I did, but that's wrong. This… all of this," and she motioned distractedly to… the world in general, "is wrong. _This isn't how the story goes_."

Daaé didn't argue the interruption this time. "Then how should the story go?"

"I don't know–"

"Then where does kidnapping me come into this? Which story does _that_ belong to?"

"Both."

The first real inkling of unease trickled into Daaé's eyes. "Why?"

"Because it's my duty to protect you!" the Ghost snapped.

Daaé stared. No words came.

And then a cacophony of words reverberated through the Ghost's little corner of the world; an amalgamation of voices, unfamiliar and uninvited. The Ghost stalked to the edge of her home, to the darkened lake's shores, and something in her form shifted. The narrative sank back into her bones, returning purpose and direction.

She turned back to smile to Daaé. "Behold. Your rescuers come."

ooOoo

The Bureau and their band of humans clattered to a verbal halt as a shadow blotted the far shore. Tall and spindly and full of angles, the Opera Ghost came into sight for the first time. They were dressed in black. Clothes swathed around them like liquid shadows. Dark, save for the blank, emotionless mask.

"Well," Haru said, "that worked."

"Told ya it would."

"Any idea what we do now?"

Baron stepped up to her shoulder. "Now we wait."

"And then?"

There was a bark of laughter – or, almost a bark; it was something more animalistic in nature – that echoed along the cavern's walls. The Opera Ghost threw their arms out in a mocking welcome and with a kick, sent the boat floating their way.

At first, the group was silent, waiting in a hallowed shush as the boat drifted towards them.

After several minutes of pained silence, Toto said, "We're not _actually_ going to get into it, are we?" He glanced to his companions. "It's obviously a trap."

"Ah," Louise said, "but if we know it's a trap, then we're prepared for it."

Toto gave the other Creation a reappraising look, bordering on worry. "That's not how it works."

"I don't really see how else we're going to get across without it though," Haru said.

Cornelia nodded. "And we're not leaving Elaine there."

"So that's two for getting in the boat, and one against…" Haru glanced about. "Anyone else want to cast their vote?"

"Five against one is pretty good odds," Alexa said.

"Eight against one, I think you mean."

Alexa tilted her head at Louise. "I wasn't entirely sure whether to count two cats and a crow. Even if they do talk." She squinted. "How can you even–"

"Magic," the Bureau chorused.

Alexa stared a moment longer, evidently trying to decide how much she believed that. In the end, she seemed to decide it wasn't the biggest issue right now and just shook her head. "I say we get in the boat. A member of the crew has been kidnapped and I'm not just going to walk away."

Louise leant over to Haru's ear. "Oh, I like her."

Haru batted Louise's comment away, as if she hadn't been momentarily speechless the first time she'd met Alexa either. "Baron? Muta?" She paused, and added, "Gawain? Are you all coming?"

"Of course–!" Gawain began.

Haru held up a hand. "That'll do. Baron? Muta?"

"Eh. Sure. Ain't how I planned on spending my day, but sure."

Baron nodded.

"Alright, everyone aboard then." There was a clunk as the boat hit the shore, and Haru pulled it up, trying not to think too hard about Baron's uncharacteristic silence, or the way she'd had to step up, or how his gaze kept moving to the Creation on her shoulder, something unfamiliar and unreadable in his eyes.

Instead, she focused on her responsibilities, here and now. Hold the boat steady. One, two, three, seven people aboard. Push it forward, feet sinking into shallows, boat finally gaining momentum. A cumbersome leap that dropped her into the boat after her companions. Setting Louise back atop her shoulder, the far shoulder from Baron.

She shook her head, as if trying to clear the troubling thoughts from her mind.

"Are you okay, Haru?" Toto asked.

"Fine."

The look he gave wasn't wholly convinced. Or at all.

Haru snorted and turned her head away.

Maybe because Haru was trying to avoid her thoughts, or maybe because she was circling round the same thoughts, but the ride to the far shore didn't seem nearly as long as the boat's initial journey. They neared the Ghost's lair, and now Haru could see the Ghost's mask was an expressionless, empty thing, no details save for the openings in the eyes and a slit for the mouth.

The eyes burned orange. The only colour in an otherwise monochromic figure.

"So," the Ghost said, their voice distorted beneath the mask, "you have arrived."

There was movement further back. Lady Elaine appeared in the wide entrance, still dressed in her costume and could almost be mistaken for true royalty in the semi-gloom, except in the way she leant casually against the stone archway.

She gave the newcomers a little wave.

"Elaine!" Cornelia fell from the boat before it hit dry land. The Ghost moved to intercept, but Haru and Baron were next out, barrelling between them before the Ghost could lay a hand on the librarian.

"I wouldn't do anything rash, if I were you," Baron said. One hand was curled around his cane's neck, the other gripping the hook.

"We're not here to fight you," Haru said. Both of her hands were raised, half a shoulder angled before Baron. "We know that you felt you had to do this because of the story, but you can decide to let Lady Elaine go now. That's how the story goes."

The Ghost tilted their head. Haru realised their eyes weren't just burning orange; their depths flickered like literal flames. "You called her Lady Elaine," they said. "You know the truth."

"You!" Haru jumped and turned back to see Alexa storming towards them. "You're the one kidnapping my cast members!"

"Alexa, we have this under control–"

"I'm sure you do, but they–" and she jabbed a finger towards them "–are _still_ responsible for the chaos of the last month. You locked Henrik in a cupboard for two hours! And you dropped a chandelier on Leon! _And_ you stole the original dancing shoes for the role of Princess Ada, and I know that because Elaine is currently wearing them!"

Eyes turned to Lady Elaine, who was suddenly very aware of the shoes she had on. "The ones I were wearing came off on the way here. I didn't realise they'd stolen these ones," she said, a tad defensively.

Alexa turned back to the Ghost. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

For a heartbeat, there was no answer. Then the Ghost raised a gloved hand.

 _Oh god,_ Haru thought, _we're about to get a client barbequed._

And then the hand turned not towards Cornelia, but around the corners of the ivory-white mask and pulled it loose.

"What do I have to say about myself?" the Ghost echoed, but few heard the words or cared for their meaning. A smile curved around a long, pointed mouth. "Well. That's the first time anyone's thought to ask me that."

"You're – you're–"

"A dragon," Haru finished. Her breathing was quickening, sped by understanding and horror at the unhappy marriage of human and draconian features before her. "The Dragon," she corrected. "Even with the narrative of The Phantom of the Opera, it wasn't enough to turn you fully human, so the magic just…"

"Bundled me into humanoid form," the Dragon said, and even through the hoarseness of human words on a draconian tongue, the voice sounded more feminine than not. The facial features gave little identity otherwise, little recognisable human form to be found. The most humanising part – even with the burning irises – were the eyes. Dragon eyes with human emotions.

The Dragon tilted her head, eyes visibly focusing on Haru. "You. You know of Lady Elaine's true identity."

Haru mutely nodded.

The Dragon leant in.

Haru felt the air shift behind her as Baron began to intervene. She dropped an arm back and caught his wrist before he could do anything. She swallowed. Her mouth was dry.

"How?"

"We–" Her voice cracked, attention momentarily snagged on the wisps of smoke that curled around the Dragon's jaws; it was one thing to theorise the Ghost was original the Dragon, but another thing entirely to meet the Dragon wrapped up in the barest façade of humanity. She swallowed and tried again. "We are the ones who originally meddled with your story. And we know the person for releasing you from it." She inhaled uneasily. "If you know who you really are, then why are you doing this? You don't need to be the Ghost–"

The Dragon cackled, her head throwing back and a maw of teeth glittering white in the otherwise dim underworld. When she looked back, her smile was wide and taut. "You think it is only the borrowed narrative that compels me to act as such? You may have meddled in my story, but you had little care for anyone but your precious heroes." She threw an arm out and gestured sharply to Lady Elaine with a hand that Haru could now see was more claw than finger. "I was made for one purpose and one purpose only, and that was to keep the Lady Elaine under my protection. If you finish this story, she will be taken away from me and I will be left with _nothing_."

"You're not guarding me!" Lady Elaine snapped. "You're _kidnapping_ me."

The Dragon smiled. "I was never made to know the difference." She stalked towards her, and both librarian and lady stood their ground. "Wasn't I good in looking after you? Didn't I give you everything you could have wanted? Safety. Food. A home."

"Freedom?" Lady Elaine retorted.

The Dragon snorted. "I gave you everything within my power. Even when the story shifted to this stolen narrative, I still tried to give you everything the story would allow me. Your voice. Your leading role. I gave you the taste of freedom, but the story dictates you will use that freedom to run away with him!" She threw another clawed hand back, this time towards Gawain.

Lady Elaine looked sceptical. " _Him_? Are you sure?"

Gawain looked mildly put-out by the overt doubt.

"The story says you will leave here with someone – if not him, it will be another. Bringing you here was the only way to delay that fate."

"And now what? Now I'm here, what is your plan?" Lady Elaine demanded. "What? Am I to stay here until the end of my days, if you get your way? What are you to do now?"

The Dragon didn't immediately reply. Her face was turned away from Haru, but Haru could see the curve of the Dragon's shoulders soften, her angular form dropping at the harsh edges. "No," she murmured, but her voice carried in the resounding cavern. "No, it is too late for that. Things have changed."

Haru stepped slowly forward, ignoring her companions' tension. "The story is nearly done. All you need to do is release Lady Elaine and it'll be finished. We can return you to your book and everything will go back to the way it was."

"Everything?" the Dragon echoed. "Will we _all_ return to our book? Even the Lady Elaine?"

Haru hesitated. Her gaze danced momentarily over Lady Elaine and Cornelia.

The Dragon saw the look. "I thought as much."

"That book is your home–"

"What waits for me there?" the Dragon demanded. "I was written to guard and protect Lady Elaine. If I go back alone, there is nothing inside that story for me!"

"I'm not going back."

Eyes turned to Lady Elaine. She stood taller now, straight and sure.

"You remember?" Toto asked.

"Not all of it, but… enough." She nodded. "Enough to know that here is where I belong now."

"It's unravelling," Louise murmured, just loud enough for Haru to hear. "This narrative is almost done."

"You belong in our story!" the Dragon snarled.

"I belong where I choose! I get to make that decision. Not you. Not some book. Me!"

The Dragon stilled. Lady Elaine's words continued to echo around the cavern, growing fainter until only a whisper remained.

"And that is your final answer?"

Lady Elaine took Cornelia's hand. "It is."

Those fiery eyes flickered to the joined hands, and for a moment Haru tensed, ready to intercede, but the moment passed without incident. The Dragon returned Lady Elaine's steel gaze. "Then maybe you don't need me anymore."

She stepped forward and her humanoid form dwarfed even Lady Elaine's tall stature. Neither knight nor librarian backed down, but Haru saw Cornelia's grip tighten.

"I never meant to harm you," the Dragon said. Her voice was soft, as soft as her draconian tongue would allow. "Believe me when I say that. My purpose was _always_ to protect you. In our story, it was simple; the path was set. No one could touch you in my tower. But out here, the world is complicated and dangerous, and I don't know how to keep you safe. I don't think I can."

Lady Elaine stepped up, closer to the Dragon. She met her glimmering gaze. "I need to do this."

The Dragon nodded. "I know."

"So what's going to happen now?"

"Now? Now, you are free to live your life. Whatever way you wish."

Something shifted in the air; the sharp pang of magic, the world jolting a few inches to the left, and there was a collective intake of breath, as if everyone had surfaced from the deep sea. The air felt clearer. Lighter.

There was a groan. Cornelia had dropped Lady Elaine's hand and was cradling her head in both palms.

"La– Cornelia?" Lady Elaine reached out, but Cornelia batted the worried hand away.

"Ugh, no, I'm fine. Just… Just having our first meeting dumped into my head without warning." She raised her head, eyes watering a little from the abrupt readjustment. A smile could be seen just behind her hands. "Did you almost call me Lady Cornelia?"

"I don't know what to call you anymore – I knew you as Lady Cornelia of Dressler in my story, and Cornelia Dressler in this world–"

Cornelia grinned. "You can just call me Cornelia."

"It feels somewhat improper–"

"We're dating. I think we're allowed."

Lady Elaine didn't reply immediately.

"Elaine – I mean, Lady Elaine, if the return of our memories has changed anything–" Cornelia began to backpedal.

Lady Elaine gestured sharply away, and then seemed to realise the curtness of her actions. Her form softened. "Nothing has changed," she said, her voice soft. "It is simply that… this last month has been wonderful–"

"Ghost and accidents aside," Muta added.

Haru nudged him. Hard.

"–but I would like the chance to… court you anew." She smiled. "As Lady Elaine, not Elaine Daaé. As me."

"I like the sound of that."

Haru felt a tap on her shoulder blade, and turned to see Louise rise to a balanced stand atop her shoulder. "Dragon," Louise called, "we can return you to your book now. And you, Sir Gawain."

Almost as one, the Bureau remembered Sir Gawain, who was still visibly wrapping his mind around the two lives currently occupying his memories. "God almighty," he managed at last, "what have I been doing all this time? Why do I recall the life of a Gawain de Chagny? Why is the dragon in a cloak? Where is my armour?"

Haru sighed and clapped her hands together, partly to attract his attention, but more in an attempt to keep her composure. "Let me explain… no, there is too much. Let me sum up."

"You! You are one of the sorcerers from the other realm!"

"I liked him better when he couldn't remember who he was," Muta muttered.

"You got dragged out of your story," Haru said, ignoring both comments, "along with Lady Elaine and the Dragon, and were dropped into the narrative of another story involving a masked man haunting an opera house, and now it's over so you all remember who you originally were, make sense?"

Sir Gawain narrowed his gaze. "That sounds like witchcraft."

"Magic. Close enough. Louise, how are we getting them back into their story?"

"If I use some of the Sanctuary's magic, it should create an opening – Haru, you might want to stay back, however; I'm not sure how your portal magic will react."

"Good point. Getting sucked into the story was chaos enough the first time. Who has the book?"

"Here." Baron set the empty book – its cover proclaiming its story, but its pages bare – upon a stone ledge, and stepped away. "Louise, are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"About as much as you do, Baron." She grinned and gestured to Haru. "Put me down by the book, please."

Haru did so, and watched as Louise flipped it to a random page and tapped three times on its blank canvas. There was no sudden change, except for perhaps the slightest sheen shimmering. "Sir Gawain, if you would be so kind as to tap three times on the page…"

"And say there's no place like home," Haru couldn't resist murmuring.

Louise grinned again, and Haru remembered suddenly that the Creation now had an up-to-date understanding of modern-day references.

"Tiny well-dressed cat," Sir Gawain said, "why should I trust you? For all I know, this could be part of a nefarious plot."

"Because it isn't and because I have a very trustworthy aura?"

Sir Gawain squinted, but approached the book. "If this is a curse, I shall not rest until–"

"Yes, yes, I know. You'll get your revenge, you'll find me, you'll do something horrible, etc. Heard it all before, now please, Sir Gawain, go home. You have a story you really should be getting back to."

He gave Louise one last dubious look, and tapped three times.

There was no whoosh of magic, no portal opening beneath his feet. Instead there was only that same shimmering sheen, and the image of Sir Gawain from the story – in armour surety – superimposed itself for a moment before both mirage and man vanished entirely.

Words began to spiral onto the page, ink looping and sweeping the paper as the story reappeared with the return of one of its three main characters.

Louise looked to the Dragon. "It's your turn next, if you want it."

"If she wants it?" Muta echoed. "She's a freaking dragon, what's the other option? Stay here?"

"Could you shush for once in your life, butterball?"

"Make me."

The Dragon moved towards them, but didn't reach to touch the page. "I will be without purpose," she said quietly. "Alone."

"It's not so bad without purpose," Louise said, her voice matching the Dragon's gentle tone. "I've been without purpose for… a while now, and you get used to it."

"Do you remember what yours was?"

Louise hesitated. "Not anymore."

"I liked my purpose. And not just because I was made for it. It was…" and she glanced back to the two women standing across the cavern. A world away. "It was the closest thing my story gave me to a family."

"You don't have to go back into your book," Louise said. "You could stay here. In the real world. You could find a new purpose if you like… I could help, if you want."

The Dragon looked away from Lady Elaine. "Help? The same way you helped Lady Elaine? And how long did that take you? Time is strange in my world, but it passes nonetheless. Tell me, did you forget about us entirely the moment you walked away, or did a whole day pass before your next adventure distracted you?"

"Things…" Toto said uneasily, "things got out of hand. We did look–"

"All this time?"

Toto didn't reply.

"I thought not."

"They didn't manage to free Lady Elaine from her story," Louise said, "but I did."

"You're with them."

Louise tilted her head in a see-saw fashion. "That one is kind of up for debate right now. Let's say I'm an independent party who sometimes affiliates with the Bureau…" She hesitated. "And may have occasionally been the source of a problem or two, but the point is you may have your problems with the Bureau, but you've never had a problem with me, so believe me instead."

"You caused this chaos."

"And it all turned out okay, didn't it? Which, when you think about it, is the important thing. Dragon, I promise you, I will look for a way to help you regain your purpose."

The Dragon stared down at the Creation, a giant and a gnat opposite one another, and something in the Creation's eyes must have carried through, for the Dragon nodded. "Then I will wait. In my book," she added. "This realm…" and she raised her muzzle to the Human World about her, "is not for the likes of me. I will stay in the world I belong until you find a way."

Louise grinned. "It's a deal."

The Dragon tapped the page, and her shape shifted in the same way as Sir Gawain's had; humanoid and dragon form occupying the same breath of space before both sank into the book. The words shuffled and squirmed, making way for their new arrival.

There was a moment of silence.

"Well," Louise said, "I think that didn't go too bad. Is there anything else I'm forgetting?"

There was a long, pained sigh. Everyone looked to Alexa, who was staring at the book with a long-suffering expression.

"Are you okay, Alexa?" Haru asked.

"Peachy." She looked to Haru, and now the expression was clearly resignation. "But how am I going to explain any of this to the rest of the theatre?"

ooOoo

"Where are you going to go?"

Louise swung her parasol loosely on the crook of her elbow, visibly only half-listening to Haru as she looked out on the bright skyline of the Cat Kingdom.

"Oh, here and there, I imagine," she sighed. "Anywhere I can. Everywhere. Part of me spent half of my life causing chaos, and followed by years being trapped away in a painting, and the other part of me was a world. Which, isn't a bad thing, but it doesn't exactly grant one much chance for travel." The parasol continued to swing like a pendulum. The motion was strangely restful to watch. "Not that I'm blaming any of you for the whole ' _trapped in a painting_ ' thing, you know."

"Yeah. I know," Haru said. "And, you know, same for the whole ' _lost between worlds'_ thing."

Louise smiled ruefully and then looked back towards the open window of the palace. "I'm glad we understand each other. But a lady's gotta see the world, you know. Or worlds, I suppose." She sighed happily. "There's so much out there, and I'm going to see it all."

"I don't think that's possible."

"Maybe not, but I've got to give it a try. I certainly have the time for it."

"What about the Dragon? You said you were going to find a way to restore her purpose."

"And I will. Somewhere out there will need a dragon to keep it safe." Her eyes flickered to the side and she grinned at Haru. "Are you sure you don't want a dragon bodyguard?"

"I think my life is crazy enough as it is."

"Hmm."

"How about you? If you're going to go on all these adventures, you might need a helping hand yourself."

"Oh, I'm a one-woman band, me. At least, I think I am. I guess I'll find out." She shrugged. "Figured it wouldn't do me too much harm to have some alone time, discover myself, all that kind of," and she gestured loosely in the air, " _thing_."

Haru shrugged noncommittally. "Worth a shot."

They stood in silence that bordered between companionable and awkward.

Louise jiggled her parasol. "What's taking them so long? How many cats does it take to set up a portal to Japan?"

"Natoru's helping, so we could be here a while."

"Hey, Chicky." Muta popped his head into the room. "Time to go." He hesitated. "See ya around, Louise."

"You can bet on it."

"Ya want to see us off or…?"

Louise shook her head. "Probably best if I didn't."

"Eh. Suit yourself."

Haru began to follow Muta out, but paused when Louise called out to her. She lingered at the threshold, hand leant against the wall. "Yes?"

"Just out of curiosity, are you going to stay?"

Haru didn't need to ask what she was asking about. That discussion was still circling round her head, spinning like a song on repeat. Haru gave a thin smile. "I don't know."

**ooOoo**

**Inspired By:** _**The Phantom of the Opera** _ **. Written by Gaston Leroux.**

**_The Phantom of the Opera (2004)_. Produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber. A quick shout-out goes to Nanenna for your "Christine dumps both Raoul and Erik and runs off with Meg" comment, which was my original concept for this case, but was slimmed down into "Elaine refuses both the Dragon and Gawain and runs off with Cornelia" instead, and Cornelia did unofficially fulfil the role of Meg in this case. (If anyone wants me, I'm going to be quietly shipping Christine/Meg in the corner here.)**

**References:** _**The Princess Bride** _ **. Directed by Rob Reiner.**

 ** _The Wizard of Oz._ Produced by Metro-Gold** **wyn-Mayer.**

**ooOoo**

**Next Story:** _**What Creations Are Made Of** _

**Teaser:** _**"I've said my piece, Baron, and you know where I stand." Haru paused at the door. "I suggest you reconsider your own position." / A few more of Toto's feathers turned to stone. / "Oh good. You're curious." A man appeared before the throne, his form bound together in smoke and shadow. "What a reckless, feckless trait. It'll get you killed if you're not careful." / As they watched, the neighbouring paving stone dropped – plummeted, as if there were no floor beneath it. The gap that was left was an unyielding darkness. / "Haru? Haru, you need to keep going. I can't help you here. You need to move. Haru!"** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ALSO SOME FANFIC RECOMMENDATIONS:
> 
> If you enjoyed the concept of book Creations, I highly recommend checking out QueenHeadphones's fanfic: "Chaos & Change" on AO3. I only discovered it after penning this case but, without any spoilers, if you enjoyed this case then you'll definitely enjoy that fanfic too!
> 
> Or if you are a fan of Phantom of the Opera, then check out either YarningChick's multichaptered POTO AU: "My Angel" on FFnet and/or Casandravus's ficlet: "Haru at the Theater" oneshot, found on both AO3 & FFnet.


	9. Episode 9: What Creations Are Made Of (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A strange SOS call leads the Bureau to a closed-off world inhabited by only a single soul who traps them in an unending maze of corridors. Also in this case: Minnow-ans, living frescoes, and a vanishing floor of doom.

_The Bureau Files: Series 5_

**ooOoo**

**Episode 9: What Creations Are Made Of (Part 1)**

A crow stood watch outside the Yoshioka household, unnoticed by the neighbours and unseen by the inhabitants. He was almost entirely unremarkable to the untrained eyes, save for the aged intelligence in his gaze and the occasional clink of stone when he moved.

The sound of movement trickled through an open window on the upper floor, and Toto hopped up to the ledge below the sill, close enough to hear a door close. Footsteps. The sigh of bed and human and Haru collapsed onto her covers.

"Wow, what a day." She paused, expectancy in her silence. The bed squeaked as she sat up. "Baron. Please say something."

Another silence.

Then, "It was, indeed, an eventful day."

"You can say that again. What with dragons and phantoms, and Louise…" Haru trailed off, her true choice of topic clear. Silence again, but this time broken by Haru. " _Baron_. Talk to me about what happened back there."

"I don't understand to what you're referring to–"

"You." The squeak of the bed; Haru leaning forward probably; Baron most likely stood atop the desk. "What happened back there? The moment Louise appeared, you just… I don't know, but you _changed_. It's like you were barely there for the case. You hardly spoke, you kept your distance, and I don't know what's wrong–"

"What's wrong?" Baron echoed, and suddenly his voice was sharp. Taut. Almost… hurt. "What was wrong with the rest of you? Louise returns and you all just act like it's – it's _nothing_! How can you trust her after everything she's done? How can you even _talk_ to her?"

"Everything she's done?" Haru repeated, and now it was her turn to shift tone, voice even and careful.

"We lost you for a year and it was all her fault!"

A heartbeat passed. Shallow breaths. "I know."

"How can you act like none of that happened?"

"We had a case. People to help. That came first." Another shaky breath, audible steadying her. "And… she isn't the same Louise who did all those things."

"You don't know she isn't."

"I don't know she is, either."

"Because you don't know her."

"Neither do you!" The groan of a mattress. Feet pacing. Haru's voice swung near and far. "When was the last time you met her? _Properly_ met her, I mean? Was it when you locked her away in the Sanctuary? How long ago was that? Decades? _I_ was the one who was trapped in the Sanctuary with her, I remember the Louise she had become and that?" Her voice spiked as if raised with a sharp gesture. "That was not the same Louise."

"You saw it for yourself – she likes to play games. Or have you forgotten the game she forced you to play? The fake Haru she created to mislead us? How she wore your face and played at being you until we realised otherwise?"

"Of course I haven't forgotten."

"This façade she now wears? This new identity? How can we know any of it is real? That it isn't another game of hers? Why do you want to believe it's true?"

"Because people change!" Haru snapped. She was breathing fast. Hard. "Because if you're wrong and she is telling the truth, then I want to help her."

"But what she did–"

"I know! Do you think I don't? I remember what happened, I _lived_ it! And I know how close you were to losing me, trust me. I saw other worlds where you _did_. Where the Bureau failed and I was lost. I saw–" She jarred to a verbal halt and started again, calmer. "The parallel worlds… they were all worlds where your and Louise's roles were swapped. Where she was able to cast off the Duchess, but you didn't escape the fear and anger. You became like Louise. And the Barons from those worlds, they had gone through what our Louise had and come out of it changed. Better. Different. Is it so hard to believe our Louise could do the same?"

"Maybe. It still doesn't change what she did."

"No. And what are you saying we should do about that?"

Silence.

"Baron?"

His words were quiet. Toto almost didn't hear them.

"There should be consequences for her actions."

"Why?"

"Because she hurt people. Why should she get to walk away from it?"

"She didn't?" Haru shot back, incredulous. "She spent years trapped in the Sanctuary. Alone. She lost her body–"

"Only because she attempted to take yours."

"–and when she did return, it was to a replica body with remnants of the Sanctuary now part of her. Alone again. I don't know if she cared for the Duke, but given that he worked with the Bureau in exchange for getting her back, it's obvious that he at least cared for her. And now he's gone and she's alone again. I think that's enough, don't you?"

Baron didn't answer.

"I'm the one she hurt," Haru said slowly.

"Do you think you were the only one?"

"I… I didn't mean it that way."

"We lost you, Haru. We _grieved_. Doesn't that count for anything?"

It was Haru's turn to go silent.

"You might be able to forgive her, but that doesn't mean the rest of us have to."

"I'm not asking you to. I'm asking you to consider where this – this _need_ for revenge is coming from. Because it sure isn't from a place of compassion." There was the edge of ice in her next words. "Or would you prefer if I called it justice?"

"Life isn't fair, so someone has to make it."

"And who's going to do that? You? My god, are you even _listening_ to anything you're saying? No, life isn't fair, we should – we have always tried – to respond with kindness. That's how the Bureau works–"

"And look where that got us," Baron growled.

"Yes. Here. All of us, alive. But lashing out at Louise? Looking for some misguided sense of revenge? That won't help anyone, least of all us." She took a shaky breath, and when she next spoke the anger was gone, replaced with surety. "Look, I'm not saying you have to like her. Or forgive her. But you do _not_ get to dictate whether I keep my anger or not. I'm _tired_ , Baron. I want things to get better, and it's not going to happen if I push away someone who wants to do better. Be better. Maybe it is a trick. Maybe it's not. But let me be kind. After everything I've gone through, let me be kind."

Heartbeats passed.

She sighed. Footsteps walking away. A door opened. "I've said my piece, Baron, and you know where I stand. I suggest you reconsider your own position."

The door swung softly shut, and in that moment every member of the Bureau was alone.

A few more of Toto's feathers turned to stone.

ooOoo

"Baron! Hey, _Baron_! Yer SOS marble is acting up!"

The Bureau converged on the distress ball cradled in Haru's desk tidy.

"It's a glass ball, Muta," Baron amended, somewhat reproachfully.

"Yeah, marble, what I said." Muta pointed. "Should it be doing that?"

The distress ball was rolling erratically in the shallow portion of the tidy, almost bouncing off the sides. Its transparent interior was pulsing with a golden glow, waxing and waning like a heartbeat.

Baron hopped onto the desk and knelt down. He passed a hand over it, not quite touching it, and then cautiously rolled it into the palm of his hand. It continued to rock, almost escaping his grip several times over.

"Baron?" Toto prompted. "What does that mean?"

"I… don't know." He reached into the desk tidy and brought out what was recognisably a tracking crystal. For several moments, nothing happened.

"Baron?" Haru asked.

"Nearly… got it…"

The hairs on the back of Haru's palm rose as the aftertaste of magic lingered in the air, and she wondered how much magic he was pouring into the crystal to make it work. And then something clicked and that taste vanished. The raised hairs did not.

They watched as that pulsing light spiralled, like smoke, from distress ball to tracking crystal. Now the crystal was lit, but the glow was still sporadic.

"What does that mean?"

"Let's get to the Cat Kingdom and find out."

ooOoo

"I'm so sorry, but we can't do that," Natoru said.

To his credit, Natoru did look crestfallen about the admission, but in a recognisably Natoru fashion, which consisted of about 60% sincerity and 40% embarrassed shame. It was less helpful than he probably intended.

"What do you mean you can't do that?" Haru echoed. "We have the tracking crystal, surely all you need to do is rig it up to your portal magic thingamy and we're good to go?"

"Yes, yes, yes, normally it would be that easy," Natoru assured, "but, you see, the thing is you're trying to go to a closed world. Our portal magic thingamy can't get through it."

"Closed world?" Muta repeated. "It's a world, not a blooming corner shop. How can it be _closed_?"

"Oh, worlds can be closed in lots of ways," Natoru answered, perhaps more chipper than necessary. "The world could have been destroyed, or it could have been locked down from the inside, or had an external connection that kept it in place that is now broken, or could even be one of those drifting worlds that never stay in the same place in the void between worlds–"

"The Sanctuary," Haru said. She looked to the rest of the Bureau. "The Sanctuary closed itself off after seeing what would happen if it collapsed. This could be it."

"It could be a myriad of other worlds too," Toto reminded her. "There might be a very good reason this place has been closed off."

"The distress ball picked up a signal," Baron said. "Someone is there."

"Sorry, Baron, but your magic isn't always infallible. The distress ball picked up a signal, yes, but it didn't pick up anything else. We haven't actually heard anyone from it."

"What's the matter, birdbrain? Scared?"

Toto scowled. "I just think we should think twice before jumping blindly into a world we know nothing about. This could be a mistake." He shook his head. "Not that any of that matters, since we can't reach it anyway."

"That…" Haru said slowly, "might not be entirely true…"

She blushed self-consciously as attention abruptly shifted to her. "When we got the SOS from the space station, I could sense where the message slipped between worlds."

"It would be exceedingly reckless–" Baron began.

"You said it yourself, it's not entirely impossible that I could sense the tear in reality where the message came through into our world," Haru continued. "It's got to get between worlds somehow, right? I bet that if we go back to the place where the message first came through, I might be able to find that tear again and get us there."

"That sounds kinda dangerous, Chicky."

"So does a good 80% of our cases."

"And for getting back?" Toto prompted. "We won't have a message to follow back that way."

"I have my ring for the Wood Between Worlds."

"Which only works half the time."

"Which only works when there's already a tear between worlds," Haru amended. "There's a logic to this I'm getting the hang of – I think. It won't work by itself because technically the ring comes from a parallel world, but it can get us back to the Wood Between Worlds if the job is already half done with a portal scar." She sighed as she tried to get her head round it. "Look, I can get us there by following the message back to its origin, and I can get us to the Wood Between Worlds – and then home – by using my ring and the entry portal scar, okay? Unless anyone else has any portal magic up their sleeve they'd like to share right now?"

There was a defeated silence from her companions.

"I still think this is foolhardy, even for us," Toto said eventually.

"Duly noted. Anyone else?"

ooOoo

It was easier than before.

Haru didn't know what to make of that.

Back in the mundanity of her room, the fault line between realities was almost too simple to find, a scar left from the message's entry. Her nails caught along it and in an instant she was through. Light flooded the room.

"A white portal," Toto said. "Definitely another world then."

"Eh, at least it's not a parallel one," Muta grunted. "I've had enough of parallel worlds to last me a lifetime. Or nine."

"Guys, I can't keep this open forever. Are we going through or aren't we?" Pins and needles were beginning to creep up Haru's arm, verging on the edge of discomfort. She held out her other hand to the others. "You may want to hold on tight."

"I don't like the sound of that," Muta muttered, but he grabbed the hem of her trouser leg anyway. Toto hopped onto her shoulder, and Baron was the last to move, stepping up onto her upturned hand. With an instinctive twist of magic, she yielded to its gravity and allowed the portal to pull them in.

Her knees hit rock.

No, not rock. Paving stones. Large slabs painted a dull red.

Haru groaned and slipped her legs from out under her, massaging her knees. "You'd think after all these hard landings, I would have learnt to wear knee pads or something." She looked up about them. The air was light, despite an absence of any visible source, illuminating frescoed walls and crimson pillars blocked with black stone bases. "Huh, this seems…"

"Civilised?" Toto offered.

"I was going to say calm, but that works too. Where are we?"

"Not the Sanctuary."

"Muta's right," Baron said. "This is indeed unlikely to be the Sanctuary."

"Unlikely?" Muta echoed. "Try impossible. Last I checked, the Sanctuary was a courtyard and some houses. Not underground corridors."

"We're not underground," Haru said.

"Yer see any windows, Chicky?"

"We don't know what changes might have occurred since the Sanctuary shut itself off," Baron said, reclaiming the conversation. "Visually, there's no telling what its appearance would be now, but I still don't think this is the Sanctuary. Toto?"

Toto shook his head. "We'd feel it if it were the Sanctuary."

"But that still doesn't explain where we are." Baron paced along the wall. He almost seemed himself, Haru noted, the familiarity of a mystery reinvigorating him. Maybe this was a good idea after all. "The building structure seems Minoan in style – foundations in stonework with timber beams and columns, with the artwork undeniably Minoan–"

"Minnow-an?" Muta repeated. "Tell me this ain't a fish world."

"Not minnows," Toto said, "Minoan. Don't you ever think of anything but food?"

"Look, I'm just saying what I hear."

"The Minoans were an ancient civilisation located off the Greek islands," Baron said. "It was around until over 3,000 years ago."

"But…" Haru said, "I thought this was another world. How can it have influences from a civilisation from _our_ world?"

"Aliens."

"Muta, please tell me you don't believe aliens built the pyramids," Haru pleaded.

He grinned. "I'm not saying anything."

"I don't know," Baron said, answering Haru's earlier question. "It might be coincidence. There are an infinite number of worlds out there. It isn't impossible that styles could repeat."

"Not impossible. Just very, very unlikely," Toto muttered. "All this is all well and good," he continued, not sounding entirely convincing, "but we received a distress call and this place appears deserted. Where did it come from?"

The rest of the Bureau exchanged glances, and that was when their surroundings shifted to a throne room.

Throne room was perhaps an overly generous term, certainly not the kind of throne room that Haru was familiar with in her time with the Bureau, but there was still a gravity to the small chamber. An alabaster seat stood tall at the far wall, flanked by two frescoed griffins. Behind the griffins, the wall was patterned in waves of red and white along a background of reeds. A bench lined the room, and a large shallow basin – about a metre across – sat in the centre.

The room was otherwise empty.

Haru approached the basin, and as she neared she could see faint geometric lines running along its interior. The core softly glowed. She started to tap at it.

"Uh, Chicky? Maybe don't?"

She leant away. "Maybe you have a point."

"Geez, ya think?"

"Oh good. You're curious."

The Bureau jolted in time to see a man appear before the throne, his form bound together in smoke and shadow. "What a reckless, feckless trait." He collapsed down and the shadows dispersed like ash. "It'll get you killed if you're not careful."

"Is that a threat?" Baron growled.

The man waved it away. And, as he moved, there was a strange uniformity to his form; shadows didn't curl in the folds of his robes, nor darken his face. And his face… it was too sharp, too clear-cut to be anything entirely human. He watched them from his left eye, the right side of his face turned entirely away. "A threat?" he echoed, and his voice was strange too. The inflections rested in all the wrong places. "No, I have no need for anything as crude as threats. It is… merely an observation."

"An observation for what?" Toto asked.

The man eyed him. Haru realised he hadn't blinked once since appearing. "It's Toto, isn't it?" He ignored the rise in tension at the name. "The crow gargoyle." He tilted his head. "Creation."

"How do you know my name?"

"You're in my world. I know all about you. _All_ of you."

"Then you have us at a disadvantage," Baron said.

The man smiled. The effect was unsettling, almost artificial, like he was dusting off a change of mask. But there was undeniable amusement in his voice. "You may call me… Grace."

Behind him, the painted griffins moved, rising from their haunches and pacing along the wall towards the Bureau. Haru didn't move, but her heartbeat quickened. By the stillness of her companions, she knew she wasn't alone. The griffins seemed contained to the fresco they were created on, but there was no guarantee they would stay that way. Their footfalls were eerily silent.

"And what do you want?" Haru asked. She kept her eyes firmly on Grace, even as the griffins paced behind them.

"Want?"

"Why did you bring us here?" Toto asked.

"To meet you. I wanted to see who my unexpected visitors were."

"Not to this room, to this world. Why did you send out a distress signal?"

The man's face took on an approximation of confusion. "I sent out no signal."

"Then who did?" Toto persisted. "Who else is here?"

"No one."

"There must be someone else in the whole world–"

"There has been nobody else in this world for thousands of years."

"But the distress signal–"

"Must be mistaken. I would know if another soul resided here."

Toto fell silent.

"Yeah, so this has been great," Muta said, "but it looks like we've messed up somewhere, so if you could just drop us back off where ya found us, we'll be on our way – oh crud." He had turned and seen a wall where a door had once been. "Guys, there was an exit there a moment ago, right?"

"Go?" The man rose from the throne, his movements sure and confident. " _Leave_? No, no, no, you've only just arrived. And it has been _so long_ since I've had guests."

He glanced between them, and something strange yet happened to his face. Up until that point, he had been entirely in profile, watching them solely out of his left eye, but as he changed to his right, his whole face blurred. Only for an instant – and then it was back in profile and was almost enough to be forgotten.

"And such interesting guests at that."

He rose to his feet and began to circle them like his griffins, his movement stiff and sharp – like a paper puppet, Haru couldn't help but compare. It would have been comical if only the power dynamic hadn't lay so comfortably in his grasp. Those empty eyes passed over the Bureau. Searching.

"Two Creations and two mortals. How fascinating. Well…" His head tilted. "Maybe. And to have been through so much – _so much_ – and cut it so fine so many times… It's amazing you're all still here."

"What do you want?" Haru repeated, and this time she couldn't keep her voice from hitching. There was something… dangerously removed in the way he evaluated them. Calculated. Cold.

"To learn," Grace said. "To test. To protect."

"Protect what?"

Grace smiled. It was not a reassuring smile. "You will see."

The world around them shifted and they were standing back in the corridor.

"You will see," echoed along the walls.

Muta exhaled loudly, and Haru realised that she'd been holding her breath also. "Geez, what was that guy's problem? Is he _tryin'_ to give us a heart attack?"

"What was he?" Haru looked to Baron, who – somewhat to her surprise – was still only a foot tall. This world hadn't seen fit to change his height, it appeared. "Baron, what was all that about?"

"I don't know," Baron admitted. "Powerful."

"Haru, can you get us out to the Wood Between Worlds?" Toto asked.

"I… I don't think so. My ring only works where the barrier between worlds is already thin, and I can't see a portal scar anywhere. He must have dropped us off in another corridor."

Muta grunted. "Which means all the corridors probably look the same. How are we gonna find our way back?"

"Carefully," Toto said. He hopped up onto Haru's shoulder and she could feel his talons on the verge of pricking skin. Haru absent-mindedly patted the crow.

"He was talking about protecting something," she said. "Maybe that's where the SOS came from."

"He also said he's the only one here, Chicky."

"He could be lying."

"He also spoke about testing," Toto said. "Personally, I'd rather not discover what that's about."

There was a rumble from behind them.

"Oh, you just _had_ to go and open your beak, didn't ya?"

When Haru looked back, there was a hole in the floor. "That… wasn't there before, was it?"

As they watched, the neighbouring paving stone dropped – plummeted, as if there were no floor beneath it. The gap that was left was an unyielding darkness.

"That's worrying," Muta said, in the same sort of tone usually reserved for weather remarks.

Haru reached into her bag and scrummaged around until she pulled out a few spare coins. She tossed one at the new opening. It quickly vanished into the darkness and if it hit a floor, it wasn't heard over the sound of another slab falling.

Toto's talons definitely dug into Haru's shoulder now. "Haru. _Move_."

Another slab vanished. Closer this time.

"Yeah. Good idea." She slowly rose to her feet, as if afraid her weight would unsettle the ground beneath her, and paused only long enough to offer Baron a hand to stand on. She backed away, her heart jumping in time with each vanishing paving stone. "Run?"

"Run," Muta agreed.

They broke into a sprint, Haru moving Baron to her other shoulder even as she glanced back.

She had half expected the floor to match her stride, but it continued at that same leisurely pace. She turned a corner and the sound of the breaking masonry began to fade.

Eventually, when the sound had dwindled entirely, she slowed. Her legs were shaking and, not for the first time, she cursed the weakness of her body from her year's absence. She came to an eventual halt, leaning against the wall.

"Hey, ya okay?"

"I'm good. Great." She exhaled heavily, and was embarrassed at how hoarse she sounded. She glanced to the Creations on her shoulders. "What was that about?"

"I don't know," Baron admitted. "But if he wanted to harm us, there are other ways to do so. Easier ways."

"He certainly seems to have enough control over this world," Toto agreed.

"Maybe he wanted to scare us?" Haru offered.

"Vanishing floor of doom is not the way I'd have gone."

"And how would _you_ have scared us, Muta?"

"I dunno. Monster? A good ol' generic monster. Maybe dim the lights down, have some nicely-placed shadows with things moving round in them. Not a deathtrap ya can _crawl_ away from."

"We just ran, Muta."

"Yeah, and it wasn't about to catch up, that's what I'm saying."

"Please don't give the person controlling the very world we're standing in any ideas, butterball," Toto scolded, but somewhat tiredly.

Muta was on the verge of biting back a response, but paused. A distant rumbling was approaching with the kind of tenor that usually denoted danger. Haru pushed herself away from the wall just in time to see a slab fall away at the corridor's far end.

She swore softly under her breath. "It's _still_ following us?"

"Maybe less staring, and more moving away from the disappearing floor?" Toto offered.

"Fine. But I'm walking this time. I'm not running if it's not."

There was enough distance for Haru to regain the entirety of her breath before starting, the vanishing ground advancing at just below a brisk walking pace. Even at a curt stride, she managed to leave it behind by the first corner.

The rumble continued, eventually fading as it did before.

"He's not exactly testing us, is he?" Muta grunted, and now the only sounds were his and Haru's footsteps, echoing gently along the stone walls. "Not that I'm complaining or anything, but I thought we might at least break a sweat."

"Give it time," Toto said forebodingly. "We're not out of the woods yet."

"Heh, what do you think he has next up his sleeve? Hand puppets? A pit of the world's most non-venomous snakes? Place ya bets, folks."

Haru snorted and carried on walking. "Let's just keep going. He'll have to do something new eventually."

ooOoo

The vanishing floor didn't stop.

It didn't slow or hasten or cease; it just carried on at that same unhurried pace, unthreatening and unworried but never ceasing. Every time the Bureau rested, it would always be just a few corners behind, just close enough to keep them constantly moving.

Nothing else changed. It was just them and the approaching abyss, and Haru wondered if this was how elk pursued relentlessly by wolves felt. A hunger patiently biding its time for the first victim to fall.

She had slowed, allowing her pace to match that of the chasm, just enough to always keep it in sight. To see if it ever stopped. And to save her energy. She had the uncomfortable instinct she was going to need it.

She yawned, the sound only just audible over the falling slabs.

"Tired, Haru?" Baron asked. "We can walk, if we are a burden–"

" _Please_. You weigh nothing," Haru was quick to dismiss. "Plus you have tiny legs, Baron, and flying's much more tiring than walking, Toto. You can both stay."

"And me?"

"You're fine, Muta."

"My legs ain't any longer than Baron's."

Haru began to retort, and then hesitated. Her mind ran over the consequences of the lost Sanctuary in the other worlds; how, in particular, it had affected Muta. Eventually, the loss of the sustaining Sanctuary magic would allow time to catch up with the old cat. Eventually, it would take him.

Muta snorted. "Relax, Chicky. It's all good."

"I'm sure I can manage–"

" _Relax_. I was pulling your leg. Geez, I'm sure ya weren't always this gullible."

She felt herself redden, heat flushing to her cheeks. It seemed to trigger something, for she yawned again and this time her mind registered the ache behind her eyes and the heaviness of her limbs. "Hilarious. Hey, does anyone know how long we've been walking? It feels like it's been hours, but it's impossible to tell without any sunlight."

"Doesn't your phone tell you?" Toto asked.

"I left it behind – wasn't sure what to expect coming through into a closed world, but working cell service was not included, and I think my mother might flip if I lose another phone. And _no_ , I didn't bring a watch along because there was no guarantee this other world would even have days. Which I suppose it doesn't." She caught the sharp note in her words and bit her lip. Gentler, she added, "How long have we been going?"

"It's impossible to be sure," Baron said. "As you said, without sunlight or any natural cues, time is difficult to predict." He paused. "Long enough that I would have expected our viewer to have moved on to another game by now."

"But since he hasn't?" Haru prompted.

"But since he hasn't, it means he either has far more patience than at first glance…"

"Or?"

"Or there's something else going on."

"Neither fill me with confidence," Toto muttered.

Something glimmered at the corner of Haru's vision. She halted, head half-turned.

"Haru?"

"I thought I saw…" She faltered. "Nevermind. It's nothing."

"Given our current predicament, I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss it as 'nothing'. What did you see?"

"Just… I thought the lights flickered for a moment back there. Or a shadow. Or something."

"Something following us?"

"I don't know. It could have been a trick of the light."

Her companion's silence sounded less than convinced.

ooOoo

Haru snapped her head to the side. "Okay, now I'm _sure_ I saw something. The lights blinked."

Baron frowned. "I saw no change."

"It was there – I'm certain of it." She tilted her head to one side to appraise Baron. "Don't look at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like I'm lying."

"I don't think you're lying," he replied. "I am just surprised that you saw something I did not."

"Because your Creation eyes are just that much sharper than mine?" Haru snapped.

"You're tired, Haru. You need to rest–"

"And how do you propose I do that? Do each of you want to take a limb and drag me across the floor? Perhaps I could run and give myself a thirty second nap before the endless pit catches up with me? Maybe I should just freaking jump into the abyss and get my rest that way–"

Her jaws clamped shut with an audible snap.

"I'm sorry, Baron. I didn't mean to lash out like that, I'm just…"

"Tired."

"Yeah." She gave a dry chuckle. "God, I could do with coffee right now. Or an energy drink. Shame I just packed useless things like a torch and water and rope."

"You pack a portal crystal?" Muta asked.

"I would've, but Natoru said it wouldn't be able to get us out of here. Wouldn't have been much more than a pointy rock. Good throwing ammunition though." She rummaged through her bag. "I do have the lapis lazuli though."

"Why?"

"I guess I forgot to take it out from… wow, a while back. Along with several breath mints, some hard boiled sweets, and chewing gum. Geez, I really need to repack this bag sometime."

"What do ya need breath mints for?"

"I don't always have time to brush my teeth during cases, Muta. ' _Excuse me, Mr Monster, do you mind putting off eating us for two minutes while I clean my teeth? Much obliged._ ' I mean, can you imagine?" She made a face. "Don't judge. I don't think I've ever seen you brush your teeth."

"One of the perks of being a cat."

"You eat so much cake though…"

"Your point being?"

"Sugar. Lots of it."

"Can we remain on topic?" Baron asked.

"Of what? The never-ending corridor of doom?"

Baron gave her another scowl for her remark. "On getting out of here."

She scowled back. "Stop making that face at me."

"I don't–"

"Yeah, you do. I know it was my magic that got us here, but I didn't know we'd be going up against someone who could control the entire _world_. It's not my fault, so stop looking like it is."

His hand squeezed her shoulder. "Haru, I'm not blaming you for this."

"Well, you sure look like you are."

"Haru," he said softly, "you're tired–"

"You bet I am! We've been walking for… god, I don't even know how long. My _eyes_ hurt, let alone my legs. I just want to sleep, but I can't because–" And she waved irritably at the abyss following behind.

"Days," Toto said.

"What?"

"It's difficult to approximate time without external influences, but I'm fairly certain we've been stuck down here for at least a day. Probably two."

"Oh." She nearly missed a step, but caught herself in time. She glanced up to Toto. "How…? How long can people last without sleep?"

"I'm not sure. But it's not fatal. Eventually you will just won't be able to remain awake any longer."

Her gaze flickered behind her. "Yeah. Not _usually_ fatal." She swallowed nervously and looked away.

"Effects also include brain fog, paranoia, visual hallucinations, impairment of emotional recognition, and balance issues."

"Great. Somebody tell me we have a plan."

"I'm working on it," Baron said.

"And?"

He hesitated. "Don't stop."

ooOoo

She had run out of words… who even knew anymore? Hours? Days? Perhaps it was for the best; the few words that did float to her mind were irrational and barbed, designed to hurt. The only thing keeping them from escaping was the stark fact that it was more energy than it was worth.

Her legs were working on automatic now, stumbling every time she had to turn a corner and deviate from a forward march. She was just quick enough to remain out of range from the falling floor. Just.

Her hands had begun trembling a while back. She had stuffed them into her pockets but could feel the shakes through her coat. The lights continued to flicker at the edge of her vision. Hallucinations, Toto had called them, and hallucinations they probably were. She'd stopped watching for them anyway.

Even Muta had gone quite. _Muta_.

She wondered whether his mind was stumbling through the same haze that hers was. Whether irrational mood swings were also see-sawing inside his head, just waiting for the chance to break loose.

And knowing it was simply the effects of sleep deprivation didn't change a thing. And she had tried. At first. Tried to rationalise and compartmentalise the part of her that wanted to lash out at every wayward comment.

Now she was just focusing on keeping quiet. Keeping quiet and keeping going.

They came to a corner and Haru only registered it just in time to bump around it. Muta wasn't as observant, walking right into it and it was suddenly the funniest thing Haru had seen all day. Days? Plural. She cracked into laughter so strong it hurt her already-aching lungs.

"Haru…?" Baron asked.

"Did – did you see that?" she wheezed. "He just – bump!" She drunkenly imitated the collision and dissolved into fresh bouts of giggling.

Muta shook his head clear of the impact. "Whatwasthat?"

"You – you–"

"Microsleeps," Toto explained quietly. "You fell asleep for a moment there."

"You sleepwalked," Haru managed, "into a wall." She laughed so hard she did trip then and slammed her shoulder into the side.

Muta started laughing then too, great guffawing noises that bounced along the corridor in booming echoes.

"Toto–" Baron began.

"On it."

Haru barely registered the talons releasing her shoulder as Toto swept down and grabbed Muta before the floor could catch up with him.

Haru giggled harder. "Look! A flying pig!" She stumbled after them, ricocheting off the walls like the contents of a pinball machine. "Hey, no fair! How come he gets a free lift and I don't?!"

She wheezed to a halt pretty quickly, the sleepless days catching with her. Muta was already snoring.

"Haru? Haru, you need to keep going. I can't help you here. You need to move. Haru!"

She waved Baron's words away. "Why can't you?" she demanded. She motioned weakly again. "Poof into taller Baron. Taller Baron could… could carry me. Like in the… in the kingdom where you kidnapped me…"

He tilted his head, almost sounding amused. "You mean where I rescued you from being kidnapped?" he offered.

"That's what I said. Why aren't you Tall Baron?"

"I don't have the spell to change that. We left it back in the Human World, remember? An oversight on my part, I'll admit, but the magic consumption alone might have been too risky anyway–"

"Phooey."

"Haru, I don't want to alarm you, but you need to move. The floor–"

Haru blew a raspberry.

"Haru, please–"

"No. Nu-uh. I've had it up to here–" and she gestured in the general height of her shoulders "–with walking. Do you know how long I've been walking?"

"Haru–"

" _Forever_. That's how long I've been walking. No more! I ache and I have more blisters than feet, but you know what's the worst thing? The boredom!" she answered before Baron could even formulate a reply. "It's so _boring_. There's not even anything to play I Spy with! Would it kill him to put up some scenery around here? Anything but these walls."

The flat of wings denoted the return of Toto, the sleeping form of Muta still hanging from his talons like a sack of flour. "Haru, we need to go–"

"No!" She sat down in protest – or, more accurately, dropped to the floor with assistance from the wall. "I've had enough."

"If you don't get up–"

"Then what? I fall into the bottomless pit of despair a little sooner? The only vari… variable here is how much walking we do until we don't!" She smacked her hand against the floor. "Don't you get it? There is no end! We're just gonna keep walking and walking and I've had enough!" She folded her arms and then quickly dropped them when she began to slide to one side without support. She propped herself back up against the wall. "I'm not taking another step. I refuse."

"Haru, you're not thinking straight. Your judgement has been impaired by your exhaustion–"

"I've sat, Toto. I'm not getting back up and you can't make me."

"You're going to get yourself killed, idiot!"

The chasm was only a few slabs away now. Close enough that Haru could feel the floor shiver with each approach. She stretched out a leg and let the toes of her boots hang over the side. Another slab vanished and her calves swung freely in the void.

"Haru!"

She scowled and tucked her legs back towards herm setting Baron as carefully as she could manage onto the ground before using her momentum to swing to her feet. "Alright, alright, _geez_. Don't get your tail in a twist."

She swayed where she stood and the world momentarily blacked out as she slipped into sleep. She awoke with a jolt as the slab immediately behind her plummeted.

"Haru?"

"This may be the sleep deprivation talking," she said, "but all this time looking for a solution, and there's one we haven't considered."

"Haru, don't–"

"Catch me if you can," she whispered, and she rocked back on her heels. With arms outstretched, gravity claimed her.

She just had time to see Baron shout something and leap onto Toto's back, speeding towards her, before the all-encompassing darkness swallowed her entirely.

ooOoo

" _Well, that's one way to bring our test to an end. Be warned; it won't be so simple next time."_

ooOoo

The darkness receded from Toto and he was alone.

Well. Not quite.

Grace leant against his throne, that fake smile painted into place.

"Hello, Toto. It's about time we had a little chat."

**ooOoo**

**Teaser:** " _ **How many feathers are stone now? How many more before you'll no longer be able to hide it from your charges? Until you are nothing more but**_ **stone** _ **once more?" / "Open a portal. Find your companions." The walls began to close in on Haru. The ceiling descended. "Before it's too late." / A scab of wood marred Baron's skin, replacing flesh and fur with painted oak. It stole up the curve of his mouth and, even as Haru watched, it crept a little closer towards his eye. / Something big began charging towards him. Muta could feel the ground shaking. "Oh geez." / "Why?" Toto asked. His voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper. "Why kill them?" Grace smiled. "Because it's the only way to protect you."**_


	10. Episode 10: What Creations Are Made Of (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trapped and separated from one another, the Bureau must find their way back together while their magic, strength, and purpose are put to their limits in more of Grace's deadly tests. Also on this case: portal-hopping, fish oil and water aerobics replacements, and never-ending wheels of misfortune.

_The Bureau Files: Series 5_

**ooOoo**

**Episode 10: What Creations Are Made Of (Part 2)**

Toto warily approached Grace, feathers bristling in a dormant avian instinct he had almost forgotten he possessed. "Grace," he greeted. He hopped onto the rim of the basin where the geometric lines were carved into its interior. Dots of light were dispersed randomly into the stonework. "Where is everyone else?"

"Busy," Grace said.

"More tests?"

Grace tilted his head, and with his head permanently in profile the action was almost mannequin-like. "Soon," he answered. "The first one was an interesting insight into your collective limits, but as a team there really are too many factors to reasonably keep track of. Now is the time for a moment's… _grace_ before continuing on."

"Like this?" Toto fixed Grace with a scrutinising look. "Are the others talking to another Grace? Is this just the face you use to talk to your subjects?"

"I have many faces. Your charges are getting a little more variety."

Toto didn't quite like the way Grace referred to his companions, but he pushed past it. He nodded to the being before him. "Why do I get this face then? It's a little repetitive, isn't it?"

Grace smiled. The expression was still uncanny. "This is a personal favourite of mine."

"I am honoured," Toto replied dryly. "Why the special treatment?"

"Because you are special, Toto." Another smile, another note of unease tugging at Toto's heartstrings. "Because you are like me."

ooOoo

Haru opened her eyes and she was standing in a bright room.

 _At last,_ her mind thought, _a change of scenery._

The air felt electric to Haru. Rough. Her skin bristled, even through her coat. Maybe a side-effect of… whatever had happened to her.

She didn't remember falling unconscious, although she must have, and she didn't remember the sluggish shift from sleep to waking, for her return to the realm of the living had been like the switching of a lightbulb. Instantaneous. Blink and change the channel.

The only sense that the change of location hadn't actually been instantaneous was in two factors. The first being that there had been no jolt as she went from falling to standing. No flip of the stomach as her momentum shifted. The second was in the clarity of her head and the strength in her limbs. All the weakness, both mentally and physically, felt like it had been cleared away.

What did return was her memories. She reddened for her own sake and tried to focus on something other than her sleep-deprived behaviour. Like her situation. She circled the room she had awoken in and, even in her refreshed state, it took several circuits before she realised that the thing amiss with it was the lack of a door.

No doors, no windows, just walls and a fresco depicting lilies and papyrus growing between colourful rocks. Swallows were painted, caught in mid-flight, and Haru's eyes were drawn to a couple that were depicted circling one another in a frozen dance.

She stepped up to these two in the absence of anything else and, against all her survival instincts, brushed her fingertips along the wall.

"You are a strange one indeed."

Haru jolted back, but now the swallows did circle one another, wings unmoving as they looped round and round like toys on a baby's mobile. As they spoke, their beaks moved in unison but only a single voice could be heard.

"Strange?" Haru echoed as she carefully backed up. "How?"

"Your body has spent a year slumbering in a Creation world," the sparrows answered, "your soul in the void between worlds. Despite the nature of your origins, you are no longer entirely human."

"And?" She was forced to turn to keep watch as the birds drifted across the wall. "What does that mean?"

"Enough," they said. "It means to a soul like you, daughter of an artisan, bridge-builder between worlds, enough. Complications. It means, given time and application, you have the potential to become stronger."

"It doesn't feel that way," Haru mumbled.

"No," the sparrows agreed. "Your mind is still human, after all, and your body still recovering from its year's slumber. Even your magic is tired after keeping you afloat in the void."

Haru bit her lip, considering the birds' uncannily knowing words. Then she shook her head. Bigger fish to fry. "Where are the others?"

"Others?"

"My friends. They… they followed me after I… jumped. Where are they?"

"Alive," the sparrows answered.

"Safe?"

"Alive," they persisted.

Haru swallowed nervously. While she felt wholly recovered after her previous trial, she still remembered the aches and pains and paranoia. "I don't know what you want, but–"

"You do."

"What?"

"I told you when you arrived. To learn. To test. To protect."

"And what does that mean to us?"

"It means," they said, "you'd better learn fast. Open a portal. Find your companions." Two sets of beaks curved upwards in the façade of a smile. "Before it's too late."

ooOoo

It had just been Baron and the empty room for... a while now. He had the strange sensation that he was caught in a dream, in which time and logic didn't quite apply in any sensible manner. He had been there long enough to pace the room a dozen times, long enough to inspect the vivid frescoes of fantastical beasts that lined the wall, and long enough note the lack of windows or doors or anything passable for an exit.

He had been there long enough to change his mind several times on the wisdom of pressing the large stone button raised in the centre of the room.

He paced the room again and, to no one's surprise, didn't find a hidden exit on this circuit either.

Eventually he sat before the button and let the tiredness of the case wash over him. He hadn't slept since arriving, and it was beginning to show. His magic felt drained, sluggish, slow. He exhaled and there was the rattle of wooden lungs. Feeling had gone from his toes. He inhaled and his eyes flickered shut.

Footstep.

He opened his eyes and saw one of the painted fantastical beasts – a griffin, styled the same way as those from the throne room – had lowered a single clawed paw out of the wall and onto the floor. Baron didn't move for a moment, caught on the precipice of sleep, but shook himself back into motion as another beast began to climb out of the painting.

"Not so alone, after all," he mumbled and rose uneasily to his feet. His joints creaked.

He stepped over the button and approached the first beast. He raised his hands in what he hoped was interpreted as a placating gesture. He had little strength left to fight anymore. "Whatever you want, I'm sure we can talk it over–"

The griffin lashed out and raked claws over Baron's arm.

He hissed and instinctively leapt back. His right foot caught on something raised, something which slid down as he dropped his weight onto it, and Baron closed his eyes in regret.

Right.

The button.

But instead of the situation immediately worsening, the monsters halted. And then, like characters on video caught on rewind, they reversed back into the walls and resumed their silent, unmoving watch.

Its job done, the button rose smoothly back up into place, even with Baron half-standing on it. He raised and lowered his foot, and the button slid back down. He stepped off it and sat down in front of it. A sting in his arm reminded him that he hadn't escaped entirely unscathed, and he raised a hand to his shoulder. His glove came away red.

His breath quickened. Not at the severity of the wound, for it would heal soon and barely pricked, but at the implications. So far they had ventured into this world without a scratch. Even leaping into the unknown abyss hadn't yielded any injuries. It was just coincidence enough to make him wonder if their captor wanted them unharmed.

He looked at his bloodied hand and reassessed their situation. Even through the exhaustion, there was the growing spark of panic.

Growling caught on the edges of his ears before the panic could take over. The frescoed creatures were stirring back into life and now they were climbing down from the wall quicker than before.

Baron pressed the button – with his hand this time, and the button offered no resistance – and the creatures again backtracked into their paintings.

He sighed and he felt the deadening wood creep a little further through his lungs.

It looked like he wouldn't be getting any sleep any time soon.

ooOoo

"Because you are special, Toto. Because you are like me."

"We are nothing alike," Toto snapped.

Grace's smile widened. It seemed to carve his face in half. "Of course you are. We were both created to protect, and we both failed to protect our charges. Not that either of us were directly responsible, but… we are the one created to protect. It's our duty. And we failed."

"We failed?" Toto asked. He opened and closed his beak twice before continuing. "Who did you fail?"

"My first occupant. A long time ago now. Others came into my world and I underestimated their power." Pause. "And overestimated his."

"And now you test those who enter your world out of… what? Vengeance? Karma? Self-righteous fury?"

"You think I take pleasure in your pain?"

"I see you do not shy away from it."

"No. Because it's necessary."

"For what?"

"To protect you. All of you. Well," he added, "what remains at the end of it all."

"I don't understand."

"No. Of course you don't. You're still too young. Still too raw from your failure. You haven't been able to take a step back and see the bigger picture."

"Which is?"

"You can't protect them. At least, not the way you do now. Not in this state. Maybe, in your early days in the Human World, maybe. But now?"

"What do you know of my early days?"

"You're in my world now, Toto. I know all about you. About anyone who enters here. I know didn't always look like this. So… tame."

Images flickered over the frescoes behind Grace; a creature made of shadows and darkness, only the barest likeness betraying an avian form. "Back when you truly befitted the title of gargoyle."

"That was a long time ago. The world was different then."

"It was. And certainly different from the Oz you'd been created in. You hailed to a world of science, not magic, and what do you find? Two world wars in the span of a generation. You protect what you can. You fail, because even a Creation like that," and the room was darkened by the shadow creature's wings, "cannot keep every bomb at bay. You fail, and you decide you're doing it wrong."

"I know what happened–"

"You decide that you can't be a protector, that in all your Creation power you are better equipped to help a small few. To advise, rather than fight. Your form changes to suit your new approach; a watcher, a guardian, a _friend_. You choose to protect a fellow Creation and his little helping office. A hardier charge than the humans you'd failed before, even with his penchant for foolish decisions. Because if you protect him, you protect all his clients too."

"I don't see–"

"And then you fail again."

Toto didn't say anything to that.

"And shall I tell you why you keep failing? Because it's the wrong approach. You can't protect them from everything and you can't always advise them onto better paths. No. The only way to protect them – to truly protect them – is to make them stronger."

A heartbeat. "And that's what you think you're doing?"

"That's what I _am_ doing."

"And if you misjudge and kill one along the way?" Toto demanded. "Where does that fit in your grand scheme of protecting us?"

Grace laughed. The sound was uncanny, a sound not quite human, and not quite artificial. Jarring, like a record caught on repeat. "Misjudge? There will be death, but it won't be a case of my _misjudgement_."

The feathers along Toto's spine rose.

"What?"

"One of your companions will die," Grace said, his words simple and unaffected. "Eventually one of them won't be able to keep up and will fall. I'm rather curious to see whom the weakest link is. I personally have my bets on the human. After her year… _away_ , both body and mind has suffered. Of course, your fellow Creation might surprise us all. Physically, he's stable, but you and I both know there's something else going on at play there."

"Why?" Toto asked. His voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper. "Why kill them?"

"Because it's the only way to protect you."

ooOoo

Haru snorted, because humour felt like the better option, and gestured sharply to the enclosed room. "Is that a joke? Open a portal? _Really_? And here I was, thinking you were this all-seeing, all-knowing world."

"I know what you know. And more."

"Then you should know I can't just… open up a portal and jump through. It doesn't work like that."

"Says who?"

She fumbled. "Says… experience. I can only open up portals that are already there. Where there are rips or places between worlds where the veil is thin enough for me to open. Dormant portals, portal scars, that sort of thing."

"A child's approach."

Haru bristled at the patronising tone. "My father did far more portal-hopping than I did, and even he could only use existing portals."

"Wrong."

"What?"

"Since your year in the void between worlds, you have spent far longer using your magic than he has," the sparrows said. "A whole year of burning through your magic, keeping yourself afloat in the void. You've already begun what I want; you've pushed yourself past your existing limits and survived." They detached from the wall and flew circles around Haru's head, more like paper toys on a mobile than ever. "The veil between worlds isn't an impenetrable, impermeable wall; it's a… weave. A tapestry woven so tightly that it only appears to be impervious. The portal scars just happen to be the gaps big enough for you to sense."

Haru found herself taking uneasy steps back, but the sparrows just continued to spin round her, like she was their own personal planet, drawing them in wherever she went. "So what?" she asked. "What difference does that make to me? Like you said, I can only sense the portal scars."

"You forget. This is my world. I can loosen the weave as easily as I can close it off. And now I have loosened the weave enough for you to sense. I know you can, even if you don't realise it. Or did you think you were just imagining it?"

Haru tensed. After falling back into consciousness, she had discounted the strange electricity to the air as a side effect of something, the world maybe. The thought that she could sense the veil between worlds was disconcerting if nothing else. Her fingers itched with an illogical desire to try. Her mind overrode it. "So this is your next test?" she asked. "You want me to open a portal and go… where?"

"Anywhere in this world. And don't even try to go beyond – I've loosened just the fabric of this world, not the outer veil. If you try to escape back to your world, you'll find yourself hitting a world your magic can not yet penetrate." Twin avian heads cocked. "Maybe if you try hard enough, you can find your companions."

"Like it's ever that easy," Haru muttered, but at long last she gave in to her curiosity and raised her hands to the air. Now she knew it was the loosened barrier between realities, she could sense similarities to the portal scar she had pulled open before. When she slipped on her ring, it became clearer still; the air tingling with potential if only she could find her grip.

She steadied her breathing, steadied her heartbeat, until her hands were steady and sure and a nail snared in a minuscule gap. Impossible to see, barely possible to feel, but there. One nail, two nails, a finger curled through the space and she felt the veil rip.

Potent blue portal magic spun into place and Haru nearly laughed with the exhilaration of the power running through her. The portal was open – it went nowhere, nowhere yet but she could change that. She could feel the curve of the world running beneath her fingertips, just waiting for her to choose her entry point back in. It bubbled with multiple magic signals, but one – Grace's, she presumed – overpowered them all.

She reached out, tried to focus on one of the smaller magic signals, and missed. The gravity of the portal pulled her in and she went through regardless in a tumble of colour and electricity and landed heavily in a room almost identical to the one she had just left, save for the disappearance of the sparrows.

Her legs buckled, suddenly weak, and she let herself fumble to the floor. She lay there and a bubble of incredulous laughter shook through her. "It worked," she wheezed.

"It worked," someone echoed.

Haru tilted her head back and saw the sparrows reappear. "Oh, you again," she said. She gave another laugh, but this time tempered by the shivers that were beginning to take hold along her spine. She wondered how much magic she had burnt through with that little party trick. She watched as the sparrows took to the space above her head. "Now what?"

"Again."

She laughed, shorter this time. Tired. "Rest first."

"No," the sparrows said, and the walls began to close in. The ceiling descended. "Again."

ooOoo

Muta wasn't sure if he had grown to fit the corridor, or if the corridor had shrunk to fit him, but he had decided he didn't like it. These kinds of height shenanigans he usually left to Baron and Haru, and they rarely came without complication. In this case, he suspected, it probably meant their host had a few plans for him.

He turned another corner and, _surprise, surprise,_ more walls awaited him.

At least here the floor wasn't in any danger of swallowing up him. He'd tested it too, taking a rest just in case it simply hadn't caught up with him, but all that had happened was he'd gotten bored and decided to explore. So far he'd mostly found walls, corridors, and sometimes – when his host was feeling particularly creative – stairs.

Eventually, when he came to another fork in the corridor, he groaned and slammed a paw against the wall. "Hey. HEY! Anyone out there? What happened, did ya run out of ideas? I ain't complaining about the lack of life-or-death going on here, but it's gettin' real boring now!"

He waited all of two seconds before thudding the wall again.

"Hey! I know you can hear me! What's wrong? Am I not interesting enough for ya? HEY!"

Movement flickered from the corridor he had just come from, flashes of blue bouncing along the walls and Muta started to consider running when he saw his pursuers seemed to be more painted creatures – this time monkeys, coloured a surreal shade of dark blue.

He stood his ground and folded his arms. "I guess you ain't here to hunt me otherwise you'd've chosen something with a bit more bite. So. What's going on?"

The closest monkeys clambered along the walls, peering at him with small yellow eyes and chattering with inappropriately sharp teeth. "I've been considering what to do with you," the monkeys said, multiple jaws moving but only one voice present. "Unlike the others, you're a survivor."

Muta raised an eyebrow. Or did his best approximation with feline features. There were times he almost missed being human. "Tell me somethin' I don't know. Like what I gotta do to get outta here."

"Chances are," the monkeys continued, as if he hadn't spoken at all, "your limited lifespan will catch up with you long before you make a fatal mistake. Unfortunately, there's not much I can do about that."

"I said tell me somethin' I don't know," Muta repeated.

The painted creatures leapt around him, sliding across the walls and up onto the ceiling, and then one dropped down from above. Its paw remained joined to the ceiling, but its body detached from the surface. Its form didn't change though. Muta twisted his head to one side and saw its body was indeed paper-thin, created like a shadow puppet.

Yellow monkey eyes fixed on Muta. "You already know you're ageing, don't you?"

"Doesn't take a genius to work it out," Muta grunted. "Body ain't moving as fast as it used to, not since the Sanctuary went away. Figured it had been keeping me going. Meddling. It ain't the end of the world."

"You'll die."

"I was always gonna to eventually. Old age ain't the worst way to go."

The monkey before him chewed over his words. "I can't protect you from old age," it murmured, almost more to itself than him. "Not here. Not like this."

"Not without the Sanctuary, yeah I get the picture."

"It'll have to be the next best thing then."

Muta smirked. "It better not be fish oil and water aerobics. I ain't an old man yet."

"No," the monkeys replied. "You're a fighter. Presuming you find a way to circumvent your sudden onset of ageing, your next likeliest cause of death will be finally picking a fight you can't win."

Something big began charging towards him. Muta could feel the ground shaking. "I don't suppose we can start small and work up?"

The monkey before him pulled itself back into the ceiling. Muta's heart sank a little further into his stomach. "Now, whatever would be the point of that?" it asked, and scattered back along the walls.

The rumble neared and Muta finally saw his designated opponent.

"Oh geez."

ooOoo

"You're crazy. Protect me?" Toto demanded. "How could killing them possibly protect me?"

"You think you're breaking because you failed in your purpose, but you're wrong. Part of you knows that's not the really cause. You're breaking because you failed and you refuse to accept it."

"I'm not brea–"

" _Liar_ ," Grace breathed. "How many feathers are stone now? How many more before you'll no longer be able to hide it from your charges? Until you are nothing more but stone once more?"

Toto didn't answer.

"You're breaking because you failed and you think that makes you a failure. Because you failed and you wonder what's the point of you if you can't even do the one thing you were made for. But you need to learn that failure is inevitable."

"And you think killing my friends will change that?"

" _A_ friend. And yes."

"Why?"

"Because when you fail beyond repair, you learn that you have to keep moving."

"Like you."

Grace inclined his head.

"Like I said, I find your limits. And then I push you past them. Only that way can you learn and grow. I think you'll be surprised how much of you remains after you lose one of them."

"You don't need to do this."

"And if I don't? You'll just carry on petrifying, caught up in your own shame; receding feather by feather with every little imagined fault you find. I can't allow that. Not when I can change it. Tell I'm wrong. Tell me you have this under control."

Toto didn't reply. Couldn't.

"You haven't even told them you're breaking," Grace continued. "Your charges. Your _friends_. You don't want to burden them with yet another problem, another soul to worry about. It's not too bad, you tell yourself, compared to human's death nightmares, or the cat's dwindling lifespan, or whatever is changing the other Creation from the inside-out. No, you don't want to worry them so you keep it all bottled up until you can't. You're breaking, Toto, and you need my help because we both know you won't ask anyone else for it."

Toto was silent again. When he finally found his voice, his words were hoarse. "Are they still alive? My friends? Is there still time for me to change your mind?"

Grace gestured to the basin Toto was perched on. "Why don't you take a look?"

And that was when Toto really took note of the glimmering lights set within its interior. Four lights. One centred, one still, one moving, and one vanishing and reappearing elsewhere. Too strange to be mere decoration.

Four lights.

Four Bureau members.

"It's a map," Toto breathed.

"Well, yes and no," Grace said. "It's not geologically accurate – this world shifts too much to be able to map it as simply as that – but it's the closest you're going to get."

Even as Grace spoke, Toto saw the geometric lines shimmer and alter, apparently without rhyme or reason. The moving dot continued along a path that was continuously twisting in on itself, presenting a trail that was never-ending. The four walls around the stationary dot, however, seemed unmoving.

"Go ahead," Grace prompted. "Your charges still live. See for yourself."

Glancing once more to Grace, Toto brushed the tips of his wing against the stationary light.

And the throne room was stolen away.

_The position he sat in was uncomfortable. Sore. And yet he did not move. Did not shift from the dead centre of the room he occupied, hand almost entirely shifted to wood poised above a stone button set into the floor. All around him, moving restlessly like the rolling sea, were monsters painted on frescoed walls. Griffins and harpies and chimeras and things beyond recognition._

_A rumble and one of the griffins stepped out of its painting._

_The chimera was close behind._

_He didn't rush to react – not anymore – and only a sliver of panic rippled through his mind. Instinctive, but long-dulled. He waited until the griffin was within swiping distance before leaning forward and letting gravity take over. The button slid back into the ground and the monsters halted. Then they retreated back into their paintings and were still._

_For now._

_He swayed back, his hand releasing the button and his breathes escaping from him in ragged gasps. He wanted to sleep – he ached to sleep – but he could not. He must not. His mind was a mess, focused only on the ravenous monsters, the single button that kept them at bay, and the lone drive to survive long enough to find the others._

_The tiredness was a hollowness within him._

_He inhaled, and he felt the hollowness – the tiredness – crawl up his shoulder and blossom across his chest. His heart beat erratically as it tried to stave off the dull receding of his magic, but eventually it would revert to wood too. Like his arms. His legs. Eventually – whether it was due to his heart and lungs or his remaining arm – he would no longer be able to press the button, and the monsters would reach him._

_He wasn't sure he would care by then though._

_The griffin began to twitch again, and he reached out for the button once more._

Toto snatched back his wing and the connection was broken, but he could still feel an echo of that emptiness cooling in his chest. He shuffled his wings and was reassured by the soft plumage that remained.

Flesh. Not wood.

The feathers beneath his wings clinked as stone met stone.

Mostly flesh, he amended.

"What are you doing to him?" he asked, and his voice had no more returned after that brief foray into Baron's mind. "Why?"

"I think you've already figured it out. Or I hope you have, or I've seriously overestimated you." Grace tilted his head. "I need a baseline. I've already seen the limits of the mortals' strength; now I need to know how long the Creation can last on his magic alone. Once that is done, I can work on extending that."

"Why?"

"His most frequent limitation is his magic. He is a figurine living in a world among giants. How many times has he nearly burnt through his magic just to keep up with humans, to look them in the eye, to meet them head on? How much easier would it be for him if he had a greater reserve of magic to support him?"

Toto thought of the exhaustion haunting Baron's bones. "Some limits can only be stretched so far. You could kill him."

Grace only smiled. "If it does, then so be it. The outside world would have done it eventually; if he cannot survive in my world, what real chance does he have for beyond?"

Toto could only stare. A familiar coldness seeped through him. A few more feathers petrified. "You really believe you're doing the best for all of us, don't you?"

"It's what I was made for." Grace seemed to sense the numbness claiming a little more of Toto, for his face softened into what could almost have been called compassion. Almost. "Here's a deal to keep you moving after the loss: I will allow you to rescue your remaining charges. Survive the loss of one and you can save the other two. And look on the bright side: it might even be easier to protect those that live with the removal of the weakest link."

"Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Don't pretend this is a kindness."

Grace smiled his uncanny smiled. "I never said I would be kind. Only necessary." He gestured once more to the basin. "But, for the moment, your charges still live. Do you want to see?"

Toto wanted to refuse. To turn his back and fly to his friends, but he knew that would get him nowhere. In a world which was at Grace's every whim, Toto would only reach the others if it was allowed. For now, all he could do was watch.

He lowered a wing to the dot that was moving along the never-ending corridor and suddenly

 _He was running. Running, because, honestly, running was better than stopping to face_ _**that thing** _ _._

_He wasn't tired enough to be stupid enough to stop and try to tackle it. Not yet._

_Monkeys leapt along the walls, safe within their frescoes, as they attempted to convince him to fight. Confused as to why he wasn't. Almost annoyed, but not quite. They had the time to be patient._

_He did not._

Toto withdrew his wing and felt strangely reassured. As dire as Muta's situation was, he was still faring better than Baron. And then he felt sick again because even if Muta survived, it would be at the cost of either Haru or Baron.

Haru…

His gaze moved to the final dot. It was still leaping across the basin map, extinguishing in one place, gone for a heartbeat – long enough to Toto to fear maybe she was gone – and then reigniting in another. Erratically. As it reappeared once again, Toto reached for it before it could vanish.

_She dropped down onto a stone floor but her knees were beyond bruised now. A faint smear of blood marked where her grazed skin hit slabs, but all she could do was slump to her side._

_Another room._

_Another_ _**blasted** _ _room._

_It had to be beyond pure coincidence that she kept landing in enclosed room after enclosed room. It had to be Grace's doing. Not that it mattered. Knowing it was intentional didn't change anything. Not anything useful, anyway._

" _A moment," she pleaded beneath her breath. "Give me a moment."_

_Even before she finished speaking, the walls began closing in._

_She didn't react immediately. She had time. Enough time for… a few seconds' rest. But the walls were getting quicker with every room. How long before she was always leaping, never stopping?_

_She decided that was a problem for Later Haru. Right now all she could do was snatch a few more moments' recovery before ripping a new portal into being._

_Her fingers found purchase by instinct more than design now, and as the walls dangerously neared, she ripped through the veil. Azure portal light spilled out onto her and she didn't bother to navigate herself this time – what was the point? – but let herself fall through._

_She vanished in a haze of blue._

Toto backed off from the map, his mind spinning. What Haru had done… that was beyond all their understanding of her magic. To open a portal without help, without one already existing…

"Now do you see?" Grace asked. "I make them stronger."

ooOoo

Haru fell through the edge of the world, caught in the current that flowed around it. Just beyond her reach – frustrating close – was the void between worlds. If she could get to that, she could let her ring guide her to the Wood Between Worlds and secure a way out. Maybe get help. Or… something.

But it remained stubbornly out of reach, just as the sparrows had promised. Grace had loosened the veil of his own world, but kept that to the void still tightly woven. What she drifted through now was like the upper atmosphere – still Grace's world, but on the very edges of it.

Still, she couldn't stay there forever. Already she could feel the burden of this world-edge taking its toll on her. Tempting her into its current.

She reached back into Grace's world, but this time her fingers grazed a smaller strain of magic. A familiar strain. She grabbed it and pulled herself back into reality, falling back into Grace's home of stone and frescoes, and losing her breath as she smacked into hard slab floors.

"Haru?"

She cracked one eye open, a weak smile on her lips. "Baron. I found you."

"How…?"

She waved one hand vaguely. "Magic." She squinted, and now took stock of her friend, mind finally cluing on that something was amiss. She pushed herself up so quickly the world span for several heartbeats. "Baron! What–"

"A moment, please." He dropped his right side down, letting the weight of his arm push down a stone button. The growls that had been steadily filling the air silenced, and Haru watched as the frescoed monsters receded into the walls.

"Holy–"

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I…" Her mouth flapped uselessly for several seconds, trying to process the room she was in and the form of Baron before her. She opted for the latter. "Baron, what's happened to you? What…?"

He smiled. Only half his mouth moved. "No sleep. No magic."

She reached out and brushed a tentative hand across his right cheek. A scab of wood marred his skin, replacing flesh and fur with painted oak. It stole up the curve of his mouth and, even as she watched, it crept a little closer towards his eye.

"Oh, Baron," she breathed, and in that moment she took note of other irregularities. Of the stillness of his chest, devoid of breath. The swing of his arm, like a rope swaying in the breeze. The angle of his legs that should have become uncomfortable hours ago. She dropped a hand to his shoulder and her knuckles made a hollow sound as they caught him. "How bad…?"

"If I rest, I will be fine," he promised, and Haru wanted to believe him. She didn't have time not to. She swung back to her feet and then staggered. The world tilted at a dangerous angle.

"Haru? Haru!"

"M'fine," she mumbled. "Let's get outta here."

Growling betrayed the reawakening of the frescoes. Haru pulled Baron to his feet, away from the button he so carefully watched.

"Haru, you have to push–"

"No, I don't," she dismissed, and she reached out into the veil and ripped another portal open. She vaguely heard Baron's questions, but ignored them. If she dissociated just enough, she could see past Grace's all-encompassing magic and zone in on one of her companion's signatures. She reached out for one, felt herself just miss, and dragged both herself and Baron through.

They both collapsed onto stone slabs gracelessly, Haru's knees making a sickening crack, while Baron clattered like falling firewood.

She lay there and waited for the world to steady itself.

"That… that…" Baron attempted. Haru heard him push himself up. "How long have you been able to do that? Haru? Haru!"

She didn't resist as he cradled her. She could just about feel his wooden arms, her sight so blurred that all she could see was a haze of ginger.

"M'fine," she croaked. "No sleep. No magic." She attempted a grin and suspected it came out more of a grimace.

"How many portals have you opened?" Baron asked, his voice hushed. Hallowed. Like he was in a library. Or a church. Or a funeral.

Haru decided she didn't like the last image.

"Lost count," she mumbled. "Nine? Ten?"

"You'll be burning through your magic."

"So are you," she said, a tad reproachfully.

"Overusing my magic will revert me – temporarily – to wood," Baron said. "It won't kill me."

"Nah, but the monsters will." She tilted her head. "Huh. Look at that. Corridor. Not room."

"Haru–"

"I tried… I tried to drop us off near Muta or Toto. I wasn't perfect, but I think we're close. If we get moving–"

"You're not going anywhere in that state."

She waved a hand vaguely. "How you gonna stop me? I can just _poof_ my way somewhere else here."

She felt his grip around her tighten. "Don't even think about opening another portal."

"Who do you think you are? The thought police?" The ground beneath her rumbled with the tremor of fast-approaching footsteps, and she dropped her head in the offending direction. Something large and white was running towards them. She squinted, her vision still playing merry-go-round with her mind.

Baron lifted her into his arms, drawing on some untapped reserves as he stood. "Muta?"

The white blob neared. "Heya, Baron, Chicky. _Run_."

"Why?"

A dark shadow appeared behind Muta, running on all fours, as large as a horse and built like a brick wall. If Haru squinted, she could just about make out horns atop what was probably its head.

"Is that…" she asked, "a bull?"

"That's the reason we're running!" Muta shouted. "Come on, why aren't ya– oh crud."

Haru guessed he had just spotted the state she and Baron were in – more specifically, barely enough to stand, let alone run. She grabbed Muta's arm – or tried to it took several floundering attempts with her foggy depth perception – and threw her other arm out into the air.

"Hey, Chicky, what are you–"

"Haru, no, you're not–"

She ignored both, and this time there wasn't even the pretence of finesse as she pulled all three of them through the veil, her mind focused only on keeping them together as she sought that last speck of familiar magic.

She didn't know how much magic she had left, how many more portals she could open before she collapsed entirely, but she knew she was rapidly approaching that limit. Had passed any limit she might have self-imposed on herself in sunnier circumstances.

On the brink of unconsciousness, she felt everything snap into place. Like watching a planetarium or orrery at the exact moment everything aligned, and she found it. The centre. A flood of Grace's magic. And, nearly eclipsed by it all, Toto.

She brought the Bureau through and they landed in the very same throne room they had met Grace in.

Toto was there, perched on the basin's brim, Grace standing before his throne in all his uncanny valley glory.

Grace looked at them.

"Well. That was unexpected."

Baron lowered Haru carefully to the floor. She grabbed his sleeve to keep him close, aware she was shaking and on the verge of… collapsing, or vomiting, or… _something_. She could feel him shaking too. She would have dismissed it if not for the expression he wore.

It was the same expression she'd seen him wear as he trapped Kugutsu. The same expressions after she'd stopped the Gist. The same expression around Louise.

Her grip tightened.

"Well," Grace continued, "I must say this is a bit of a complication. None of you have reached your limit yet. Cross contamination between individuals completely invalidates the results." He cocked his head. "Still, I must applaud you, human; I hadn't expected you to be able to track down your companions so quickly."

Haru leant heavily against Baron and focused on not heaving.

"Nothing to say?" Grace's painted gaze slid over them. "Any of you? Well, I must say I am disappointed."

"Yer a Creation."

All eyes shifted to Muta, who had taken a seat along one of the far benches. He wrinkled his nose at the abrupt attention. "What? I had time to think about it, but ain't it obvious?" He motioned vaguely towards Grace. "He's like the Sanctuary or the prison world Baron got stuck in. That's why he can control this world – heck, he _is_ the world – and why he's hellbent on this… learning 'n' testing shtick. It's his purpose, like the Sanctuary was all about saving, and Baron's helping, and even Birdbrain there was created for something. I'm right, aren't I?"

Grace tilted his head. "Consider me less disappointed."

"Yeah, but what I don't get is why you look like that. The Sanctuary did a pretty good job of imitating the real Louise, and even the prison world was just like a kid, wasn't he? So why do you look… painted?"

"Because he failed his purpose," Toto said.

Haru felt Baron shift; she could almost hear the pieces slotting into place in his mind. "That's why," he breathed, understanding flooding his tone.

"I rediscovered my purpose," Grace returned. "Reinvented it, renewed it."

"That could have… it should have…"

"What?" Haru asked. She was unsure whether to be irritated or bewildered by Baron's words. She veered towards the former. "What does that mean?"

"A Creation that fails its purpose," Toto said, his back still to them as he faced Grace, "if severe enough, will sometimes revert back to its original form."

"Even Creation worlds?" she asked.

"Even Creation worlds. Sometimes they shatter. Most times they will just recede into themselves and become an empty place."

Unbidden, Haru remembered learning that Baron had once done something similar, regressing into his wooden form and lying dormant for years after the loss of Louise, until a chance encounter with a schoolgirl with a vast imagination had reawakened him. He had been, in all but name, an almost Creation. "But they can get better, can't they? Things can change?"

"Sometimes," Toto said.

"And other times they are driven mad," Baron added.

Haru looked at Grace, at his human silhouette filled with brushstrokes and painted lines, and began to understand. _And sometimes both happens_ , her mind finished.

Her gaze snapped to Baron, suddenly aware that helping people had become sparse and far between after the Sanctuary's disappearance. "And if a Creation struggles to fulfil their purpose?" she asked. "What then?"

Grace laughed. It was a jarring, mechanical sound; the sound one might expect from a being who had never heard a real laugh, but had had the bare concept explained. The hairs on the back of Haru's neck rose.

"How predictable," Grace dismissed. "The cat Creation is not the one you should be concerned about. Not in that sense, anyway."

Dread pooled in Haru's stomach.

"What's that mean?" Muta was the first to find his voice and, when he did, his tone carried fake nonchalance. "Birdbrain, what's he on about?"

"Yes," Grace said, "why don't you tell them? Or do you want to wait until you're nothing but granite and dust?"

Baron rose to his feet. Haru realised, too late, her grip had come loose. When he spoke, his voice was terribly calm, like the eye of storm. "Toto," he said, "what's wrong?"

Toto kept his back to them, but Haru could see his form was bunched, his shoulders tight and his feathers raised. "It's fine," he muttered. "I have it under control."

"Have _what_ under control?" Baron pressed. " _Toto_."

"Take a guess," Grace said. "Take a wild guess."

" _He kinda… shut down. After what happened with losing the Sanctuary and you… I dunno. He kept saying he should've done a better job protecting everyone. And then when it turned out I was dying too 'cause of losing the Sanctuary, it must've been the last straw. He's been stone for nearly ten years now."_

The words from another world, another time, floated to Haru's mind. It had been another Muta who had said them, about another Toto, but some things stayed the same across all worlds. Wounds still cut the same.

"You're turning to stone," she said. "You're shutting down."

Toto didn't answer.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Baron asked.

"And when was I meant to do that?" Toto retorted. His voice was taut, but his form was still. Like he was already stone all the way through. "Perhaps while Haru's hiding sleepless nights from her nightmares after her multiple deaths. Or while Muta's feline lifespan catches up with him. Or maybe I should bring it up while you, Baron, continue to bottle up whatever the hell is going on with you. So when, on this never-ending wheel of misfortune, was I meant to add yet another complication to our lives?"

"That never meant you couldn't–"

"You don't understand! I'm meant to protect you, not make things _worse_."

"You're not making things worse by needing to ask for help–" Haru tried.

"Like you have?" Toto snapped. "Like how _any_ of you have reached out for help since Haru returned? I'm meant to protect you, but I can't do a damn thing right now! I can't even _try_ because none of you will even admit anything is wrong!"

There was a laborious silence.

Then, "Toto, I don't think any of us realised–"

"No," Toto said bitterly, "you didn't. Of course you didn't, because I'm the stable one. The constant one. No one ever thinks to check because you don't need to. Everyone knows good old Toto will keep it together. Everyone can rest easy knowing there's at least one Bureau member left who you don't have to worry about, and–"

His agitated words changed there, shifting into a language Haru had never heard before. She caught the others' eyes and saw she wasn't alone.

The moment passed, Toto's voice dimmed in emotion just as he switched back to Japanese.

"–and _that's_ why I couldn't tell you."

Another silence.

Then, Haru, quietly, "Do you have it under control? The… the petrifying. Is it under control, or is it…?"

Toto looked away. "You don't need to worry about it."

"That's not an answer."

Toto tilted his head back to reply, and then paused. Baron had approached him and had now knelt beside him. There was the creak of wooden joints as he knelt. The deadening wood effect had reached his right eye, rendering it to the stone it had been carved from. It gleamed in the light. A parody of life.

"Grace," he said, and his voice was even sounding hollow now, "this has gone on far enough. Release us."

"Why would I do that when there's still so much work left to do?"

"You're turning Toto to stone."

"I am not. He is. I'm just trying to help him surpass that point, to see failure isn't the end."

"If you keep going this way, he'll petrify."

"Baron, I'm okay," Toto interceded. "I'm managing."

"No, Toto, you're not." There. That same note Haru had heard in his voice just before he trapped Kugutsu in the mirror. She willed her legs to move. They didn't. "This Creation is pushing you too far," Baron continued, "and it needs to stop. It's going to stop."

Grace seemed amused by Baron's threat. "Such bold words for such a small Creation," he said. "You're more wood than flesh yourself. You can barely stand. How do you plan to stop me?"

Baron brought his hand out above the basin, and Haru saw the empty lapis lazuli stone she'd found in her bag. She wondered when he'd managed to steal it from her without her noticing

Grace did laugh then. "You want to stop me with that?"

"This is–"

"I know what it is. But do you really think that stone will be able to drain even a fraction of the magic I possess? It's made for the magic belonging to creatures like you – finite, limited. I am literally an entire world. Do you think you'll even be able to dent my magic with that?"

"I don't need to drain all your magic," Baron replied. "Just the parts that hold your personality."

Grace's smile slipped.

For the first time, a real emotion flickered across his painted face. It might have been unease.

"What?"

"Let's see how you like eternity trapped in stone," Baron said, and he slammed the lapis lazuli into the centre of the basin, the centre of the Creation world, and there was the faint sound like a gasp, like the whoop of being abruptly winded, and then there was a deafening roar of gale and fire, and Haru felt the world shift on its axis and then…

Grace was gone and the world remained.

The world remained, but it somehow felt… emptier. Not just in the visual loss of Grace, but in something far more integral. Something vital was missing.

"You didn't need to do that," Toto said eventually. "We could have talked him round. We could have helped."

"Maybe we could have," Baron agreed, "but maybe we couldn't." His gaze flickered over Toto, searching for the hidden slivers of stone replacing plumage. "We'll get back to the Human World and we'll sort this out–"

"What's wrong with you, Baron?"

Baron froze for quarter of a second, just enough to be easily missed, and then smiled a half-smile, courtesy of his wooden face. "Right now, no sleep–"

"That's not what I meant," Toto said. "And you know it. The Baron I know would have exhausted all other options before resorting to trapping someone in a stone prison."

"He was dangerous."

"He was our client!" Toto snapped. He swivelled his head to the others. "Did none of you realise that? He wasn't lying when he said there were no other souls here. The distress call we received could only have come from him!"

"But… why?" Haru asked.

"Because some part of him knew he was hurt and dangerous," Toto said. "Because he had been alone for centuries and he needed help. And you trapped him, Baron, just like you did with Kugutsu."

"What would you rather I had done? He may have only been following his purpose, but it was endangering all of us!" Baron snapped back. "He was forcing you into a place where you would eventually turn to stone. Isn't it appropriate that his fate fits that?"

"Justice," Haru said quietly. She was still slouched, slumped and head dipped, so she felt rather than saw the attention move to her. She sighed and lolled her head back to meet Baron's gaze. "That's what you said earlier about Kugutsu. About giving him the same fate he gave others. And Louise… you talked about her facing consequences for her actions." She hesitated, biting her lip. "An eye for an eye. Just like the Duke was about. Louise was right."

She saw Baron flinch then. She didn't know at which truth.

"Chicky, what's all this about the Duke? I thought he was gone."

"Mostly," Haru said. She kept her gaze steadily on Baron, daring him to contradict her. "Louise explained it to me. When Baron reunited with the Duke to save me, Baron regained the emotions he'd palmed off onto the Duke all those years ago. Didn't you?"

"Is this true, Baron?" Toto asked.

Baron returned Haru's stare. "I don't know. Maybe. Probably. Matters of the mind are not as clear cut as that." He looked to Toto. "But, yes, things seem to have changed since I reunited with the Duke."

"When were you going to tell us?"

Baron didn't answer immediately. "I have it under control," he eventually echoed.

"Yeah," Toto said sharply. "I can see that." When his attention turned to Haru, his eyes were stony in all but a literal sense. She wondered if it were possible for a Creation's mind to become like their created form as well as their body. "Haru, if we find the corridor we arrived in, do you think you'll be able to return us to the Wood Between Worlds?"

Haru felt uneasy at the abrupt change in topic. "I guess… but we would have to find it first."

"That's no problem. Grace was the one keeping the world shifting. Without his interference, it should be a far simpler matter." Toto swept his gaze over them. Over his companions – his charges – so on the brink of breaking. "But first, I think we rest."

ooOoo

In the dreamy ambiance of the Wood Between Worlds, the aches and pains of Grace's world felt like a lifetime away. Another world. Literally.

She allowed herself to wallow in the forgetful nature of the wood for a moment, just to pretend for a short while that everything was okay. That nightmares and limited lifespans and potent old emotions and petrifying feathers were worries for another person. Another time.

Maybe her companions thought the same, for none of them pressed for her to open their way home.

Eventually though, like all dreams, it had to come to an end and she reluctantly gathered herself to the pond which would take them back to the Human World.

Originally a small puddle to one side had denoted the Sanctuary. But, as it locked itself away on the verge of collapse, the puddle had vanished as had any easy way for her to find a way back.

She stepped up to the Human World portal, and hesitated when only two others joined her. She looked back. "Toto?"

"Haru, do you know where the Cat Kingdom pond is?"

She frowned, but picked out a pond that was similarly shaped like the lake entrance to the Cat Kingdom. "That one, I think. Why?"

"Do you have enough magic left to open that one too?"

"It'll be tiring carrying all of us there, but maybe if we ask nicely, Yuki and Lune can open a portal back to the Human–"

"Not for all of us. Just me."

Haru's mouth snapped shut with an audible click.

"If you have business with the Cat Kingdom, we can accompany you–" Baron began.

"Just me," Toto repeated, and again his voice was hard. "I have something I need to do and I… I need to get away. I need some time alone."

Even in the Wood Between Worlds, the silence that followed felt heavy.

"You _are_ coming back, right?" Haru finally asked.

There was only the fraction of a hesitation from Toto. "Of course," he said. His beak curved into a smile that might have fooled Haru ten years ago. "If you could all try not to die in my absence, that would be great."

Haru tried to smile back. She wasn't sure she managed. "Only if you do the same."

"Me?" He scoffed. "Please. I'm the only sane one here."

**ooOoo**

**Inspired By:** _**The Minotaur's labyrinth from Greek Mythology.** _

**References:** _**The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.** _

**ooOoo**

**Next Story:** _**Queen of Hearts** _

**Teaser: _"I've finally twigged what's so weird about this world. This is a coronation celebration, and I haven't heard a single person laugh since we got here." / "Baron Humbert von Gikkingen, would you care to dance?" / The monster was the shadow of a man – if men were prone to being three storey high and weeping tar – stooped and silent and oozing across the plaza. / The careful barriers he had mounted in his heart, between that which was him, and that which had been Duke, crumbled, and he snapped straight. / "Don't worry, Haru. Everything's okay now."_**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This case originally started out as a tumblr ficlet, with the prompt: "If you kill them, you'd better kill me too, because otherwise I'm going to kill you" submitted by chez-pezeater. Several parts were kept (the antagonist, the map) but the scene itself was edited to focus on Toto instead of Haru.
> 
> Also: One of the theories for the Minotaur's labyrinth's origins comes from the ancient Minoan palace of Knossos on Crete, and so I borrowed a lot of Minoan art - most of the frescos I reference are based on actual art. Grace's 'throne room' is based on the Knossos throne room, and the griffins make a reappearance in Baron's scenes; the sparrows that Haru meet are from the Spring Fresco (fitting for her name) from Akrotiri; and the monkeys Muta meets are fairly common in Minoan art, but most notably the Room Beta 6 fresco of Akrotiri. The bull is a direct reference to the Leaping Bull fresco of Knossos, which has been used to explain where the tales of the Minotaur came from.
> 
> (Fun fact: The city of Akrotiri was buried beneath a volcanic eruption thousands of years ago, and may have actually been the inspiration for Plato's Atlantis. That's not related here, but it's too cool not to mention.)


	11. Episode 11: Queen of Hearts (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Toto absent, the Bureau tries to find a new normality in their reduced state. A case brings them to a strange world where laughter is muted and a giant tar-like monster roams the streets, infecting all who stray too close. Also in this case: underwhelming coronation celebrations, self-destructive emotions, and a kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This case is a three-parter, due to the fact that the plot has a very specific three-act plot.
> 
> This case has been one that I've been dying to write for years now, and a huge shout-out goes to TCRmommabear who not only was an amazing encourager when she proof-read this series, but who also wrangled this particular case into shape. Honestly, this case could have been an entire season arc in hindsight, but it probably would have been far too harrowing, and Toto's story arc would have been overshadowed. Just know that in an alternative universe somewhere, Series 5 of TBF was based on this concept.
> 
> The world that this case explores is based on the world that Rose. M. Rainwave created in her TCR fic: Truth Begins In The Lies Of The Mirror, which Rose was kind enough to let me play with and adapt for this case.

_The Bureau Files: Series 5_

**ooOoo**

**Episode 11: Queen of Hearts (Part 1)**

A week passed. The world not end.

Two cases solved. Three. The world did not end.

Cups of tea were drunk, and more were left to go cold alongside half-written case files, and still the world did not end.

"How are you holding up, Baron?" she asked. She tidied up another long-tepid cup. Still full.

"Fine," he replied. "You?"

"Fine," she lied.

ooOoo

Maybe they were fine, Haru thought. The world didn't end after all, and the cases went by without a hitch. Well. No more than usual.

Mostly.

Even so, there were… moments. Little missteps where they assumed Toto to be. A silence that dragged too long in expectation of a fourth opinion. Flashes of familiarity when crows flew overhead. Baiting comments of Muta's that fell flat when there was no Toto to react to them. All fleeting reminders that they were short one member.

She felt herself quieten in the passing week. Words unspoken rattled inside her heart, and she fell into the comfort of the chaos of cases. Running from one monster to the next. Momentum pulling her through the days. On days like that, she almost sounded like herself.

In comparison, Baron grew louder. And yet, somehow, his words felt hollow. Performative. She wondered if he was trying to cover the silences that Toto had left.

Only Muta seemed the least affected. The only one still himself.

And Haru wondered how much of that was another farce.

ooOoo

A week and a half passed. Toto still didn't return.

And the world did not end.

ooOoo

Haru tapped her feet impatiently, the itch of a case seemingly going so mundane settling uneasily in her limbs. Cases _never_ went this smoothly. Cases, in her well-versed experience, went with running and monsters and occasionally-intentional explosions. Sometimes unintentional. "Well," she said eventually, "this all seems pretty…"

"Non-monstery?" Muta offered. He seemed as surprised at the calmness of their situation as she was.

"Yeah," Haru said. "That." She tilted an ear to the low thrum of polite conversation, lulled with innocuous, instantly-forgettable music. "Seriously, this has got to be the strangest coronation celebration I've ever seen."

"And how many have yer seen?"

Haru considered. "In the flesh? Only King Lune's coronation and, okay, that _was_ weird, but at least it was the kind of weird I had been expecting. This whole shebang just feels so…"

"Tame."

"I was going to go with civil, but sure." She cast her gaze over the well-behaved crowd, drifting mildly between stalls and temporary kiosks as they were, and couldn't quite pin down what was so uncanny about it. She shook her head. "So, what's the plan? Split up and search for clues? See if we can find whatever triggered that creepy distress call?"

"Eh, maybe it was a mistake," Muta said. "Some new glitch. Maybe filling itself with black goop is its equivalent of blue screening."

"Maybe," Baron conceded. "Still, I'd feel more confident if we could undeniably rule it out first."

"Seconded," Haru said.

"Eh, sure. I'll see yer in ten then."

Haru watched Muta vanish into the crowds. "You _are_ aware there's a good 85% chance he's just going to beg food off of people, don't you?"

"The thought had crossed my mind." Baron turned his attention to the clock tower overshadowing the plaza. "Still, that doesn't stop us. Let's ask around, see if anyone can fill us in on what brought us here, and meet back in ten minutes."

"Sounds good to me."

ooOoo

"Okay, this world is super weird, even by our standards." Haru slumped down on the edge of a low wall, leaning into Baron. There was no sign of Muta, but that wasn't a cause for worry. Not yet, anyway. "And I've finally twigged what it is that's setting it off. This is a coronation celebration, right?"

"Right."

"And have you heard _anyone_ laugh in all that time?"

Baron tilted his head. "Now that you mention it…"

"Isn't that weird?"

"Less so than you might think. In the Human World, there are only a handful of species capable of what we would classify as laughter."

Haru raised an eyebrow. "Do you actually think that that's the case here, or are you just saying it to sound smart?"

Baron hesitated. "Is there a third option? Anyway," he added, "I'll admit the realisation is… uncanny but, ignoring that uncomfortable fact, the people here do not seem… unhappy."

"Just grudgingly content," Haru conceded. "It's still weird."

"I'm not disagreeing with that."

Haru groaned and ran a hand through her hair. "So, did you get any clues as to why your distress ball went haywire and dragged us here?"

"Unfortunately not. People here seem strangely oblique on the subject of recent disasters or monsters–"

"I guess it's not something you want to dwell on during your queen's coronation."

"–and it's somewhat difficult to ask for details when you have little clue what you're looking for."

"Yeah, so I found." She sighed. "Maybe we should just call it a day and go home." She paused. "Maybe we could join Muta, wherever he is, and see if we can't try any of the local food. I'm fairly certain I saw a cake stall in that direction…"

She trailed off as another melody floated across the plaza, but there was something new in this one. Something lilting and catchy. Something alive. _Familiar_. Haru twisted her head to the source and located not only a street musician, but also the final member of their group muttering something to the woman. The musician in question looked only vaguely surprised to be conversing with a cat, but she nodded and made the appropriate adjustments to the tune.

Muta caught Haru watching and threw her a scheming grin.

"Oh, please don't tell me he's teaching the locals modern music. I swear, we leave him alone for ten minutes…" She trailed off as the hesitant tune gathered itself into an undeniably recognisable melody.

"I know that song," Baron said.

"Yeah," Haru agreed, "so it's probably not anything from the last twenty years."

"I _do_ listen to contemporary music, Haru."

"You have – _had_ – a gramophone in the Bureau. All your music comes from vinyl and whatever happens to be my ringtone." Her frown smoothed away as the song clicked. "Oh. No way."

"Haru?"

"Hang on. I'm just trying to decide whether to withhold Muta's cake privileges for the next month." She turned to Baron with an amused smile. "Don't you recognise it? It's _Katzen Blut_. Remember? From the Cat Kingdom?"

His ears twitched, eyes widening as he placed the tune. "How in all the worlds did he manage that?" he murmured.

"I don't know and I don't really care." She slipped off the wall, spinning back to Baron on the balls of her feet. She laid a hand open between them, pushing away all the doubt and fear and worry of the last week and simply focusing on the here and now. And, right here, right now, it was just the two of them and an old, memory-laden melody. "Well, we can't hear this song and _not_ dance to it, can we? Baron Humbert von Gikkingen, would you care to dance?"

His gaze flickered, perhaps remembering an echo of the same question from many years back. He smiled and took the proffered hand. "But how can I refuse such a lovely dance partner?"

"Flattery twice in one day. Who are you and what have you done with the real Baron?"

"It's not flattery if it's true."

"Careful, Baron; continue to talk like that and it'll almost sound like flirting."

He raised an eyebrow. "And would that be so terrible?"

"It would be… out-of-character, shall we say?" She stepped into a waltz, memories from years back overlapping in her mind, similar and yet so different from then. Her eyes were level with Baron's, this time; level and so close. No mask hid his face from her.

"You've been taking lessons, I see."

Haru felt her face redden. "Watching online video tutorials, actually."

"So I can tell." He tilted his head. "You do realise you're leading, don't you?"

"Uh, sorry. All the videos showed it from the leading side, hang on–"

She tried to shift her pace to following, and instead managed to step on Baron's feet twice and head-butt his chest.

She started to laugh, head buried into that familiar red waistcoat. It bubbled through her, shaking her shoulders and rendering her almost beyond speech. She felt the edge of hysteria catch at the laugh. It felt almost akin to relief at having finally shed the tears she'd been carrying since Toto's departure.

"Haru? Are you okay?"

" _Swell_ ," she managed. She bottled up the next wave of giggles, but couldn't stop her voice from tilting. "Oh well. There goes my attempt to be suave and dramatic. Darn it, you make it look so easy."

"Years of practice." Baron pulled her into a spin that set her back into his arms. "There's still plenty of song left. It would be a shame to waste it." He grinned. "But I think, for both of our safety, you'd better lead."

"Quite right too." She paused. "Although don't expect me to spin you."

"I could duck."

"It's not the height thing. I'm tall enough. I'm just worried I'd knock your hat off, and then we'd both look silly."

He smiled in a way that made her heart miss a beat. "Then I suppose you'll have to do the spinning for the two of us," he said, and brought her into another twirl. Her coat flared out around her, the hem spinning with her like skirts before gathering back at her thighs as she was swept back towards Baron.

She laughed, throwing her head back and allowing herself to continue round, pirouetting gamely with the knowledge that Baron wouldn't let her fall. The world gave way to colours and blur, then to light, and when she landed back in Baron's arms, her form shimmered gold.

She saw the light reflecting in his eyes first, emeralds seemingly replaced with veins of gold, before glancing down to see the cause.

Her clothes – all comfortable and practical and not really made for dancing at all – had been superimposed on by a thousand tiny lights. They glimmered, like settled fireflies, along her sleeves and down her coat, following the flow of the cut and then continuing downwards into a ball gown skirt.

She caught sight of her reflection in a shop window and, for a heartbeat, was transported back to the Cat Kingdom from all those years ago. Except this time it was no lost girl trapped in a princess's dress, but a young woman, tall and sure. The glamoured dress followed in the style of her coat, in the style she'd chosen for herself; sleek and sophisticated with a lapel cut that had echoes of Baron's suit. This time she didn't look like a little girl playing dress-up. This time she looked like _her_.

"Too much?" Baron asked.

Haru gently brushed at her collar, almost expecting fireflies to rise from the dress, but the illusion left no impression on her fingers save for the slight spark of light magic. "Now that's just a waste of magic," she scolded him.

"If it makes you smile, it is no waste."

She felt herself blush then. "Now you're definitely flirting," she muttered.

"Is it working?"

She stared, and then leant carefully in.

Baron's whiskers twitched at the close almost-contact. "Is something wrong?"

"Are you _sure_ you're Baron?"

"Fairly sure. Why?"

"It's just… never mind. Spin me again."

"As you wish," he said, and he swung her out into another turn that set her illusioned skirts spinning. The world was ablaze in golden light, as bright as the sunrise she first met Baron by, and she caught Baron as much as he caught her as she was brought into a dip.

Time slowed.

Distantly, she was aware of many things. The lull of the song as it reached its finale. The spring breeze tugging gently at her coattails. The curious gazes of passersby. Out of the corner of her eye she could see her magicked dress fading away, the light trickling away like a falling sunset until she was back in her everyday case clothes.

But right there, right then, all her brain could process was the proximity of those emerald green eyes and her sudden lack of breath.

Time slowed and in the time she took to close the distance between them her mind had run through a thousand thoughts. All quietened when her lips found his. Quieter still when he pulled them both to their feet and returned the kiss.

She broke away and buried her head into his shoulder, savouring the feel of him close. "Kissing me twice in once lifetime," she whispered. "This is starting to become a habit."

"Yes," he whispered back. He sounded vaguely surprised with himself. "I've noticed."

"Just for the record, that was way overdue." She sighed and breathed in his scent. Far away, she could hear a new melody had taken over; unfamiliar and ordinary, save for the odd note of _Katzen Blut_ slipping in. They swayed gently to the music. "Why did we wait all this time, Baron?" she murmured. "All the time we wasted…"

"Well, you were involved with Michael, and then you disappeared into the void between worlds–"

She gave a breathy laugh. "I didn't just mean that. I meant… this kind of stuff. Why haven't we danced in all the time I've been at the Bureau? You have that gramophone, and I know you can dance. So why haven't we?"

"Probably because I knew I would only fall further for you."

"So why now?" she asked. "What's changed?"

Baron stilled. When Haru drew back, she could see his gaze was far-off, his attention turned inwards. "I don't know," he admitted. "Maybe it's because I've already lost you once before I had the chance to be honest. I don't want to make the same mistake twice."

"Then maybe some good has come out of the last year," she whispered, and leant in for another kiss.

Coldness rattled through her and she faltered. It skittered along her spine like scuttling spider legs and she couldn't help but shiver and pull away from Baron.

"Haru?"

And that was when she saw the monster.

She swallowed. Her throat was abruptly dry. "Looks like duet time is over," she rasped and angled Baron's chin towards the creature.

It looked over the celebrations, like the shadow of a man – if men were prone to being three storey high and weeping tar – stooped and silent and oozing across the plaza.

"Ah," Baron said. "That would explain the unusual SOS call."

"We need to get people moving before it – oh." The immediate flight-or-flight response sank from her bones as she observed the once hustling and bustling street now empty, the crowds grabbing their belongings and dispersing with calm precision. " _Huh_. I was expecting more screaming – or any. This world just hit a new level on the bizarro-metre." She threw a restraining glare to Baron. "And if you tell me that some species don't scream, I swear…"

Baron's mouth clattered shut.

"Like, was the monster here all this time – just further across the city – and everyone just _ignored_ it?"

"Maybe it's a fairly common occurrence here," Baron suggested.

"That's less reassuring than you're probably going for, given how everyone else has just fled the scene. Hi, Muta."

"Heya, Chicky. Quick question – is everyone else seeing mister tall, dark, and creepy?"

"Yup."

"Ah, okay. Great."

"I mean, what are they doing just letting it roam like this?" Haru continued. "It's obviously bad news, and they're all just gonna party in the next street over and hope it doesn't get itchy feet again? Why isn't anyone _doing_ anything?"

"Maybe they can't."

"And we can?"

Baron hesitated at that. "That's what we're here to find out."

There was a dubious pause.

"Good motivational speech." Haru patted him on the shoulder. "10 out of 10."

The creature stepped into the plaza, and the temperature plummeted yet further. Collectively, the Bureau backed away, but the monster didn't seem interested in the tiny folk about its feet. Haru wasn't sure if that was a good or bad sign.

"Baron… what is that?" she whispered.

"That, I believe, is a monster."

She looked to him. "You don't know what it is, do you?"

"I've told you what it is. It's a horrible monster. Now, back away slowly before it steps on us–" Baron went to gently tug Haru back, and then froze when she didn't shift. "Haru, we need to move–"

"Oh no."

"Haru, please, come with me–"

"Oh Baron, I really wish I could."

His grip tightened. "What do you mean?"

She rolled her head towards him, and the smile she offered no longer reached her eyes. "What I mean _is_ all my limbs seem to have suddenly forgotten how to work." Her breathing was steady, but fear lingered in her gaze. "Baron, I'm scared."

"We're going to get out of this, I promise–"

"No, I don't mean like that, I mean… more than I should be. My heart – my heart feels like it's about to break my chest, and I don't…" Her breathing stuttered then. The world darkened – the shadow of the creature fell over them and her mind blanked.

"Haru?"

White noise. White noise and numbness and the knowledge that just beyond that static was a pain that would render her into agony. So she didn't push it. Didn't fight it.

"Haru!"

Hands grasped her shoulders, hands she could barely feel. "My…" She couldn't hear herself, wasn't sure if she was even speaking, so she wet her lips and tried again. "My heart has slowed down at least." She tried a reassuring smile Baron's way, but knew her eyes were distant. "That's got to be a good thing, right?"

She didn't tell him that she could barely feel her heart. That it felt like her heart belonged to another body. Her voice to different lips. Her mind floating, detached and skimming the surface of her thoughts.

She didn't tell him, but she didn't think it mattered. He knew her too well.

She found she didn't care.

ooOoo

Haru's eyes were dulled.

Her eyes were dulled and her smile was unresponsive and Baron felt the monster's artificial cold creep over him. It filled his mouth. His nostrils. His lungs. He felt his heart race and fear rage out against the unknown, and he was sure whatever had happened to her was spreading to him also.

No, he wouldn't let it–

A silent gasp escaped him as the creature's invisible hold tightened, and he felt his mind splayed forth before it.

Distantly, he felt his grip slip from Haru. He stumbled back. Lost his hold entirely.

No.

He felt the creature rifle through his head, cycling through a range of emotions. Looking for something to stick.

Denial.

Bargaining.

Depression.

**Anger.**

_NO._

The careful barriers he had mounted in his heart, between that which was him, and that which had been Duke, crumbled, and he snapped straight. He swept Haru up into his arms, casting only a moment's glance to ensure Muta was keeping up, and fled to the plaza's edge.

"Hey, Baron, I know it ain't yer strongest suit, but tell me yer have a plan."

"I'm going to stop it."

"Is that it?"

Baron gently set Haru down and his gaze caught on her inattentive eyes. "That's all it needs to be. Stay with Haru." He rose back to his feet and only paused when Muta blocked his way. "Stay with Haru, I said."

"I heard yer. I just wanna say that whatever you're planning, Toto wouldn't approve."

"Then it's a good thing Toto isn't here right now," Baron said, and stepped over Muta.

The creature wasn't looking their way. Baron wasn't sure it had even noticed them as it carried on its slow progress through the city. It sure didn't notice as it walked into a shop front and tore the wall down. Perhaps the emotional effects would wear off once it got beyond range. Perhaps they were unintentional. Perhaps the locals already had a plan underway to deal with the monster in their midst. Perhaps.

But _perhaps_ wasn't good enough.

He walked into the path of the creature and tapped his cane twice on the cobbled ground. His light magic flared and caught on every wayward lantern left in the coronation celebration's wake. The candles ignited themselves, the street lamps lit, and all the floating lanterns that had been in preparation for the evening flamed into light. Fuelled by the heat of their flames, they began to rise.

Now the monster hesitated.

But it still wasn't enough.

He tapped his cane again and the lights brightened further.

The monster stopped.

Baron smiled.

Another tap, and this time the floating lanterns that were spiralling around the plaza burnt through their paper shells in a burst of blinding light. They hovered in place, growing brighter and brighter until they were a hundred miniature suns and the monster was recoiling, and now he was sure its inky black form was turning grey and–

"Stop."

Haru curled a hand around his arm. Her eyes were still dull, but flickers of the Haru he knew were making a reappearance. She was fighting its hold.

"Haru–"

"I said _stop_." And her grip tightened.

"This is weakening it, that's how you've woken back up – if I stop–"

"I don't care. This isn't how we do things in the Bureau."

"Then how would you prefer?" he snapped back. "Would you prefer I let it hollow you out into a shell? Or maybe step on you?"

"We talk," she returned, and – _there_ – he saw a spark of something other than apathy. "We run. We make a plan. We try another route first. We _always_ try another route first. Look at what you're doing, Baron. Look at it!"

He did look.

It was definitely greyer than before. Smaller, maybe, too.

Not enough, though.

Not enough.

"It needs to be stopped," he said, and he felt the edge of a growl creep into his words. He snapped his gaze to Haru. "Whatever it was doing to you… it might have only been the beginning. It needs to be stopped."

"Stopped?" Haru echoed. "Or punished?"

"Does it matter?"

"It does to me."

He stared at her a moment longer. Then looked back to the creature and intensified the light.

He felt his magic begin to burn through him, his shoulder and neck reverting to wood and the effect spreading across his body. Still he kept the light going and the monster shrank further.

"Baron, stop!"

Someone – Haru – grabbed his arm and yanked him back, and he lost control of his magic. It flared defensively around him, angled towards the interruption and slammed into Haru. She screamed. She released him and staggered back, both hands covering her eyes.

His magic extinguished itself immediately.

"Haru–"

" _Don't_ –" She flinched away from his voice, and now he saw fresh weak burns scattered along the back of her palms. Was that from his light? Had it carried heat with it? Or was it from the magic itself, electric as it could be in its raw form?

She dropped her hands away and she looked, unseeing, his way. Her breathing accelerated. "I can't – I can't see–"

"Please, let me look–"

She lashed out with her arms and, by chance, managed to knock Baron's hand away. "I told you to stop!" she snapped. She was crying, tears rolling down her cheeks fast and furious. "I told you this… this isn't how we do things here. And yet–"

"Halt! In the name of Queen Asvoria, you are to be escorted to the palace!"

An array of guards were fanned out across the ruined plaza, armed and aimed towards the Bureau. Baron didn't miss the way they kept their careful distance from both the monster and them. Nor how they had failed to arrive until _after_ the monster had been diminished. A flare of anger for their convenient timing rose through him – if they had arrived earlier, if they had helped, if they hadn't been so _cowardly_ – and he taped it down. Haru. _Haru_ was the priority now.

"Please, my companion is hurt!" he called out. "She needs a doctor–"

"She's going to the palace physician," the captain replied. "As is your other companion. You, however," and he pointed his sword towards Baron, "have been requested by the Queen."

"I'm not leaving her," he growled.

"It's not a choice."

"It's fine," Haru said. Her form was taut and still and carefully angled away from him. He suspected she wasn't even aware of it. "It'll be fine, Baron. But I… I can't see. I'll need someone to guide me."

The guards exchanged glances, but no one moved.

"Well?" Baron barked.

More exchanged glances. Eventually one stepped forward, and Baron didn't miss the way the guard pulled his gloves up and his sleeves down so that not a scratch of skin was bared as he extended an arm out to Haru. Haru took it and, sight or no, she couldn't stop herself twisting her head back in his direction as she was led away, and Baron couldn't mistake the look in her eyes.

 _Fear_.

ooOoo

Haru blinked rapidly and the glaring white of the quarantine ward swam into hazy view. They had called it a hospital room, but the implication in the physician's words were clear; she and Muta were to be quarantined until the doctors had confirmed that they weren't still infectious with the remnant's effects.

At least they had a name for the creature now. _Remnant_.

She winced and lay back on the hospital bed, passing a bandaged hand over her eyes. The royal physician had assured her that her blindness would only be temporary, but she was still relieved when dim light falteringly returned to her sight.

"Muta?" Her voice was hoarse. She swallowed, and tried again. "What do you think…? What happened back there?"

Muta didn't answer immediately.

"Muta?"

"I don't know, Chicky."

She rubbed at her hand; the skin felt tender even beneath the bandages. "He's never… I've never…" She didn't know how to finish those sentences.

No.

That was a lie.

She did. She just didn't want to hear them spoken.

"Yeah, Chicky."

She winced again and pulled herself into a sitting position, but her form still felt small. Distant. Even though the remnant's hold had long gone, the phantom feeling remained. She tried to think about something else. Something not-Baron. "Whatever that remnant did to me and Baron, it didn't seem to get you. Do you think it's got anything to do with you being a cat?"

"Nah. If it couldn't infect a cat, it definitely wouldn't be able to infect a Creation."

"Oh."

"Anyway, who said anything about it not infecting me?"

She looked to him properly now – or as properly as she could with her limited eyesight. It made him look more cushion than cat. "But… you didn't…"

"Didn't go off the rails like yer two?"

"You don't have to put it like that, but yeah…"

"It messed with all our hearts, kid."

"Yeah, but it paralysed me, and Baron…" Her mind replayed that moment, a moment of light and magic and _rage_ … "I've never seen Baron like that before. Never so uncontrollably angry, but you…" She glanced to Muta. "What did it do to you?"

Muta shrugged. "Yer want the real unexciting truth? I couldn't see it."

"What?"

"Yeah. There was like a blinding flash of fear and terror, and then it just all… melted away and I couldn't see it. Figured that since you two were still acting weird, something was going on, so I followed, but…" He shrugged again. "It was like my whole brain just went into straight denial over it."

"Huh."

The royal physician returned, bringing the discussion to a halt and flipping through a clipboard as she arrived. She lingered at the far side of the room. "The results say that the two of you are in the clear, but we'd like to limit your movements until your companion returns." She offered a thin, wary smile. "You may not be contagious from the remnant exposure, but you are still from the Impossible World. Who knows what kind of infection you may have brought with you."

"The Impossible World?" Haru echoed.

"Of course. The realm beyond this one where people's emotions run riot. In such a world it would be impossible for life to live peacefully."

"Where people's…" Haru repeated. And then it clicked. The strange coronation. The quietness. The lack of laughter. "Are you telling me that no one in your world has any emotion?"

"Of course we have emotion," the physician said. "Just not to the same self-destructive levels that you do."

"They're not – they're not _self-destructive_."

The physician smiled. "Are you sure about that?"

ooOoo

There was a potent maze of emotions twisting inside Baron as he stepped into the throne room. He couldn't name all of them, and the ones he could he didn't want to. He had hoped – _needed_ – them to dull with the monster's weakening, but all it had done was release the reins. It had opened a box he didn't know how to shut anymore.

The guards prompted him through the heavy double doors and into a room of shadow and fire and he didn't resist. The floor shimmered black with polished jet, and more of the same rose up in the form of pillars. They looked like deadened trees. The only form of light came from lanterns hung from the ceiling, with the glow encased in crimson shades that cast the room in scarlet tones.

When they reached the edge of a dais enshrouded in darkness, the captain halted and bowed. "Your Majesty."

A gloved hand waved them away. "Thank you, Captain. You may leave us."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Another swift bow, and suddenly it was only Baron and the unseen Queen Asvoria. Neither spoke until the echo of the far door closing had faded. Then the shadow shifted, and Baron could just about make out a shape atop a throne. There was the distinct feeling he was being examined and irritation rose through him. _Haru_. He should have been beside Haru, making sure she was okay, helping her–

A flash of memory: fear in her eyes, fear he deserved, and the thought clattered to a halt.

The Queen gave a low, humourless chuckle. "You are a strange creature," she said.

"I'm a Creation," he answered, although it felt like that wasn't the cause of the Queen's interest. "A being created with all the heart of their artisan, and thus gains a soul."

"And emotions," she said. Her words made it seem like this was the crux of the matter.

"Yes."

Movement came from the shadows, and the Queen descended from the dais, stepping out into the lamplight. Her face was obscured by a porcelain mask, perfect and poised and empty, and an off-white cloak and gloves covered the rest. Only the glimmer of gemlike eyes, onyx in the sanguine glow, betrayed any life behind the ceramic mask. A crown-like structure rose from it, delicate golden teardrops separating the façade from the headdress.

"When my psychotheorists speculated that you and your companions were from the Impossible World, I had had expected a reasonable mismanagement of emotions," the Queen said, and Baron filed away the question of impossible worlds for later, "but I never dreamed it would be as messy as this." Her face neared, and Baron could see her eyes were blue. "How do you achieve anything with so little control?"

"If I am here only to satiate your curiosity," Baron said, only just keeping the tone acceptably civil, "then I request your leave. We only came here to help and we do not wish to outstay our welcome."

The Queen straightened. "Believe me, Creation, I have no desire for you to encroach on my kingdom a moment longer than necessary either. If your companions are even a _fraction_ of the emotional mess that you are, then the sooner you are gone, the better. No. I want to know what you did to the remnant."

"You mean the monster that attacked the coronation celebrations?"

"Yes."

His mind cast back over the encounter and he wished that the remnant's influence had dulled them, but the memories were razor-sharp. He remembered the spike of emotions, the remnant's magic mixing in his own and overpowering it; he remembered the snap of decisions being made, of knowing that he'd had enough, that it had done enough, and that it would do no more. He remembered the rolling waves of anger that had diluted everything else within him, that had stolen his breath and filled his heart and–

He shuddered and grounded himself in the here and now. The Queen tilted her head as if she had monopolised front row seats to the emotional roller coaster ride. "Then I know little," Baron managed. "It appeared to be a creature of darkness, and so I reacted with my light magic."

He didn't tell of the white-hot anger that had wanted to make it _suffer_ for what it had done to Haru, to return it in kind for the dulled eyes and stolen thoughts it had imparted on her. That, even now, a little voice whispered _you should have finished the job…_

He pushed those thoughts away, but his fingers flexed. He curled them tightly inward to keep the claws at bay.

The action did not go unnoticed by the Queen.

"You truly are a disaster, aren't you?" she murmured, but the words lacked pity. Instead, the closest emotion Baron could have pinned on her voice was… curiosity. Maybe wariness.

"And none of your subjects are?" Baron returned.

"Of course not. Here, such emotions are not permitted to control people the same way they do in your world. Here they are kept…" and there was the glimmer of a necklace shifting behind the cloak, "suitably regulated."

"Permitted?" Baron echoed. "Suitably regulated?"

"Naturally. We do not allow emotions such free rein here."

"It's controlled," Baron said, realisation slotting into place. "You're controlling them."

"No. I only dull their emotions."

"That's inhuman."

"It works. At least, it usually does."

"You mean it works for _you_."

The Queen smiled, and now he knew the state of the world he was passing through, he could see the expression was superficial. "It works for all. Without the restraint, this world would be overrun by remnants. It is necessary."

"What do you mean it would cause more remnants? How does that work unless…" He trailed off as his mind pieced the puzzle together. "Unless the remnants _are_ emotion." He resisted the urge to pace as his mind pieced the puzzle together. "At first it seemed strange that the monster – the remnant – would prompt apathy in Haru, and rage in me, and yet seem to have no visible effect on Muta. But all these responses are linked – they are all symptoms of grief."

The Queen smiled, but did not say a word. He was on the right track.

"Grief," he continued, "that you couldn't contain. Because controlling emotions are all well and good until they slip past your rein. Until they become too much." The final piece of the puzzle. The coronation. "Until your previous monarch passed away, and you – the newly crowned queen – had a whole kingdom's worth of mourning to suppress." He tilted his head. "Is that what happened, Your Majesty? Did the collective grief escape your rein and form the remnant? Because that's what it is, isn't it? A physical manifestation of emotion."

"Very good. Now do you see the reason for which this world is kept under such emotional lock and key?"

Baron inclined his head. "I can see your reasoning."

"But you don't agree with it."

He didn't answer.

"No matter; it makes little difference to me whether a soul from the Impossible World cares for how my realm is run, but I would reconsider such haughty distain if I were you, Creation. If you were a subject of mine, you would not suffer so." She tilted her head. "You would not bear such ire or shame and your companions would not fear you so." The Queen gave the slightest shake of her head. "Regardless, our business is concluded. Go, and take your companions with you. Do not return."

"Could you do it?"

The Queen paused, already in motion to retake her throne. "Do what?"

"Mute… or quieten the emotions of one from the Impossible World."

"I thought you disapproved of my methods."

"I… yes, but…" Unbidden, his mind played over the remnant encounter. He closed his eyes, tried to shut out the rage. Shame washed over him instead, just as potent. "I was once split into two – the good and the bad – and recently rejoined into a single soul. I thought I could control it, but…" Lashing out at Haru, magic flaring, and the fear, the fear in her eyes…

Haru was hurt, and it was his fault.

"I was wrong."

"Let me see," the Queen said, and she raised a hand to his temples. He flinched. Like the remnant, he felt his mind being laid bare before her, reading the emotions tied around it and the way they tried so hard to derive logic from the irrationality of his heart. Her hand trailed down, running fingertips from ginger fur to cream, over bowtie and crimson waistcoat until they stopped at his heart.

Here, the scrapbook of his emotions were more impulsive. They carried a different tenor that even he could sense; a sharper, sweeter, spikier note. Here he felt the anger he had so feared; it flared at the exposure and then quietened at the Queen's touch. Beneath the rage, he felt joy and love and passion linger in the space between heartbeats.

She withdrew her hand, and again there was that same wisp of curiosity in her gaze. "I can sense the divide," she said. "It is… healing, but still incomplete. Even when it does heal, I fear there will always be a scar."

"Can you remove it? Return me to how I was?"

She considered it. "I can."

"Thank you–"

"I can," she repeated, holding up a hand, "but you need to be aware of the risks before I do anything."

That same flare of anger rose in him, but he taped it down before it breached the surface. "You don't take such considerations when it comes to your own subjects."

"This is my world, and I do what needs to be done for the good of all. But you are an outsider," she said curtly. "You are not bound to our rules, and so I need you to be clear of what you are asking me to do. This world has rules and magic that do not exist in other realms. Simply put, I cannot be sure of how exactly this will work once you leave this realm."

"I accept that risk."

She nearly smiled. Fascination almost glimmered in her eyes. "There may be unforeseen side effects," she reiterated. "I will not be held responsible for your displeasure if that occurs. You will not seek retribution if you feel I have wronged you in any shape or form."

He nodded. "I accept these terms."

She did smile then. "Then let us begin," she said, and plunged her hand into his heart.

ooOoo

Baron stood at the doorway to the quarantine ward, and Haru couldn't move.

Her gaze moved over his still form; over his wooden shoulder, the edge of grainlines peeking above his collar, over the twitch of his hand as he fought the instinct to reach out to her, over his sincere, familiar, sorrowful eyes… "Haru–"

She bridged the gap between them in three strides and pulled him into a tight embrace. "You," she said, "never do that again."

He chuckled wearily and then, gently, returned the embrace. "I promise." His head dipped against her shoulder and she could feel the relief flooding through him. "Don't worry, Haru. Everything's going to be okay now."

**ooOoo**

**Teaser:** _**"Aliens from this universe could be anything. They could be super robot monkeys or furbies or space whales or…" Her beam of light came to a halt on a workdesk. "Or creepy animal skulls." /"It's fine, Haru. I wouldn't worry about it." As she watched Baron turn away, the pit of her stomach churned with the sickening knowledge she had just been lied to. / "Why are you angry, Baron?" A strange smile caught on his lips. "I'm not. Not anymore." / 'He's hollow,' the voice rasped. The tone took on an almost sing-song quality. 'Poor, deluded human is in love with a hollow puppet and hopes her heart is enough for two…'** _


	12. Episode 12: Queen of Hearts (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Following their case into the emotionless world, Baron's behaviour begins to shift, seemingly for the better at first. The anger vanishes, but so does something else. Also on this case: murder masks, ghost cats, and miniature furry piranha things.

_The Bureau Files: Series 5_

**ooOoo**

**Episode 12: Queen of Hearts (Part 2)**

Two weeks passed. Life didn't feel normal without Toto, but it was getting there.

Maybe.

Hopefully.

Eventually, even the unfinished cups of tea stopped appearing.

ooOoo

"Run faster, Chicky!"

"What do you think I'm doing?" Haru hollered back. She jumped once, twice, almost sinking both times into the snow before making the final leap into the research station.

Muta slammed the door shut, the locks clicking into place just as the polar bear slammed into the other side. "Do ya wanna cut it even finer next time, or do ya just get a kick out of near-death experiences?"

"I'll have you know… hang on…" She leant back into the arms she had landed in, wheezing heavily in an attempt to catch her breath. "I'll have you know I'm getting faster. You try putting your body out of commission for a year and then get chased by a rabid polar bear." She glanced back to Baron. "Nice catch, by the way."

He smiled back. "You're welcome. Just for the record, what was the plan if I wasn't here to catch you?"

"Hit the ground hard and painfully," Haru said. "Obviously. Still a better option than getting eaten." Her attention drifted back to the door, through the window of which she could see the bear's retreating form. She straightened, pulling herself reluctantly back to her feet. "Okay, so does the fauna around here usually attack on sight, or did someone put an 'eat me' sign on the back of my coat?"

"Polar bears aren't accustomed to human presence," Baron said, "so they have little reason to see people as anything other than another food source, but still, to attack without provocation when there are far easier meals about…"

"Yer can just say corpses, we get it."

"Something's off?" Haru offered.

"Something's off," Baron agreed.

"Are we thinking it's something to do with the research station filled with dead bodies?"

"It would be prudent to assume so. My best guess would be that the local wildlife has been unsettled by whatever supernatural forces are at work here."

"Or alien forces," Haru added. She raised an eyebrow. "What? The report said that the scientists found something otherworldly buried while doing research out here. Aliens. I'm just saying, it could be."

"Yeah," Muta said. "And then it killed them."

"All evidence so far seems to imply the scientists killed each other," Baron amended.

"Or themselves," Haru said.

"Yeah, but it's gotta be related to the ice thing, right? There's no way they find a mysterious something in the ice and then just _happen_ to all go mad and off each other."

"That would be a little coincidental." Haru batted at the light switch and then, when no light appeared, retrieved her torch. "Naturally all the lights are out of commission here as well–"

'… _granite and dust…'_

She nearly dropped the torch. From the sharp intake of breath from her companions, she guessed she wasn't the only one to have heard the whispered words. She flicked her torch on and slipped the light across the room. "That was just the storm outside, right? We can all agree that was the storm and not a disembodied voice lingering in the very room they kept this alien artefact in, right?"

"There's no proof it's extra-terrestrial–" Baron began.

"Calling it alien makes me feel better. It makes me think of E.T. and little green men."

"We've literally met horrifying aliens, Chicky."

"Yeah, but that was in a parallel universe. Aliens from this universe could be anything. They could be super robot monkeys or furbies or space whales or…" Her beam of light came to a halt on a workdesk. "Or creepy animal skulls."

Baron was the first to approach, much to Haru's relief because her legs seemed to have seized up. "It's not a real skull, I don't think," he said, using the tip of his cane to better angle it. "I believe it's simply a mask shaped like a skull." He examined it closer. "A bear skull, if I'm not mistaken."

"How do you even know something that specific?"

"You live long enough, you find strange things come in use."

"Like recognising the exact species of animal skull," she said.

"I don't know the exact species. Just the family. If you look here, you'll see how the mandibular fossa is flatter and deeper–"

"Okay, yes. I get it. Stop." She joined his side, if only to elbow him away from the mask. "It's still creepy."

"I am not arguing with that. Would knowing the exact species help? I do believe that with a bit more time I could possible specify it further–"

"Nothing but solving this case and getting back to a nice cup of tea is going to help, but thanks for the offer."

' _Nothing but granite and dust…'_

There was the audible sound of both their jaws snapping shut.

"Okay," Muta said, "that definitely wasn't the wind."

' _He'll be nothing but granite and dust and it'll be all your fault…'_

"Baron? I'm waiting for an explanation–"

'… _if he isn't already…'_

"–because this case has just rocketed from 'mildly unnerving' to 'nightmare fuel' in record time."

"Well, given the mammalian design of the mask – unless there are space bears, and I don't think those are a real thing – I suspect that we are looking at something terrestrial in origin. So we can rule out your alien theory."

"Baron, are you rambling to keep me distracted from the disembodied voice?"

"Is it working?"

'… _if the damage hasn't already been done.'_

Haru tilted her head and tried to pretend that her heart wasn't hammering painfully against her ribs. "Not really, no."

"Well, try focusing on the fact that since we seem to have found the source of the problem, we have nearly solved this case and shall soon be back home with tea as soon as we figure out what to do with the mask in question."

"I'm voting on not touching it," Muta said. "Nothin' good ever comes from touching these things."

"I'm with Muta on this one," Haru said. "I still have the heebie-jeebies from the remnant."

"We may not need to touch it. If we can discern what it wants, we may be able to remedy the situation with communication."

Haru felt herself giving Baron an odd look. "Hey," she said. "Are you… feeling okay?"

He smiled back. There was nothing hidden behind it. "Never been better. Why?"

' _Pathetic_.'

"No reason," Haru said.

' _All of you. Just pathetic.'_

Haru swallowed thickly, purposefully turning her gaze away from the mask. It wasn't moving – wasn't even appearing to speak – but she just knew the voice originated from… whatever it was. "What exactly do disembodied voices usually want? Cough sweets? A record deal?"

"Counselling?" Muta offered.

Haru's torchlight caught on a darkened window, her reflection caught back in it – her reflection, and _that mask_.

"Baron?" she whispered.

' _You could have done better. Should have. He was your friend, and you just let him walk away…'_

Very slowly, Haru reached out and pulled Baron towards her until his reflection joined hers.

His, hers, and _that mask_.

Only now it was clear it wasn't a reflection.

It couldn't be – the mask was far to the side, but the very same face stared out at them, bone giving way to blackened fur where a body should be. As the words floated through the air, the jaw in the darkened window juddered in the illusion of speech.

' _How hard did you_ _ **really**_ _try to make him stay?'_ it whispered. ' _You could have convinced him. Could have helped, if you'd really wanted. But it was easier to let him go. After all, you all have your own problems. Who could blame you if you couldn't cope with one… more… problem?'_

Haru's fingers tightened around Baron's arm. "How does it know that?" Her knuckles whitened. "How does it know about Toto?"

"It must possess mind-reading abilities," he said. He started towards the window, but was brought to a halt by Haru's grip. He glanced back to her, and his eyes were clear. Sure. "I imagine it accesses its victims' worst memories and fears and uses them to manipulate them. It would explain why the scientists seemed to turn upon each other with such viciousness."

"So all we need to do is not go mad from the brain-sucking mask thing and we're fine," Muta said. "Case solved. Can we box it up or somethin' and go home? It's giving me the creeps."

"Not yet." Baron slipped from Haru's grasp and approached the window, his head tilting to match the eyeless gaze of the mirrored mask. From Haru's angle, Baron's reflection seemed to overlap that of the mask until they became one. "What is it you gain from this? Why drive those around you to madness?"

The jaw dropped open. Hollow laughter rang through. ' _It amuses me.'_

Baron tutted and gave a brief shake of his head. "No. I don't think so. Well," he added, "I don't think that's the _only_ reason." He rounded away, gaze shifting to the physical mask still sat atop the desk. "Before the nice scientists here dug you out, I'd wager you've been stuck in that ice for a long time. Not a lot of entertainment to be found among the brine, I'd imagine. Not a lot of sustenance, either."

' _You think you know me?'_ the voice hissed. ' _You barely know yourself.'_

"Hear me through. Now, the records we found show that there was a week between your discovery and the first signs of supernatural activity. Not that the records say as much at the time – the winter is dark here, and it wouldn't be the first time people's imagination got the better of them in these long, sunless months – but lights flickering? Restless dreams? Shadows in windows? I imagine that was your doing."

' _Humans are nothing but apes who made the mistake of leaving the trees,_ ' the mask growled. ' _It takes little to regress them to such primordial fears.'_

"But there was a week before you did anything," Baron continued. "And yet another week before the scientists reported voices in their minds. Dark, twisted voices that exposed their worst fears. Now, why was that, if you claim it to be for amusement? Why wait that long?"

' _You think you are so far above your nature, but you still fear the dark and the knowing and the hunger…'_

"I think you weren't strong enough at first," Baron said, ignoring the mask's words. He stepped up to the mask, his poise loose and in control. There was the ghost of a smile as he pieced the puzzle together. "I think, whatever it is you are, you feed on the fear of your victims. The more you feed, the stronger you become, the more you can do to terrorise your prey until finally you're strong enough to regain a physical form."

' _I am so close…'_

"But not close enough. Right now, you're still too weak, aren't you? All your tricks are just that – tricks. Smoke and shadows in dark mirrors. What can you do, except murmur nasty little secrets?"

The laugh that reverberated sent shivers down Haru's spine.

' _Do?'_ the mask echoed. _'I don't need to do anything_ _ **but**_ _murmur nasty little secrets. Do you see the carnage I have left behind? All the damage that I have done? The fear that infects this place like a plague? You underestimate the power of words.'_

"And I think you overestimate your power," Baron returned.

' _You think you're safe, but I know what lies in your hearts. I know the friend you left behind, the companion you abandoned in his time of need. What kind of people do that? What kind of_ _ **friends**_ _? You claim to help others, but you can't even help one of your own.'_

Baron had gone still, the kind of still that should have denoted the calm before the storm. That _had_ , in cases gone past.

Haru's fingers curled around his sleeve cuff. "Baron, it's just saying what it knows will upset us. Don't…"

She trailed off as he turned to her with a smile – the type of smile that knew exactly what it was doing. "I know," he promised, and in that moment, he was the indomitable Creation she had first believed him to be, before she had come to know him to be as human, as _fallible_ , as the rest of them.

' _Even so,'_ the voice whispered, ' _does that make it any less true?'_

"It significantly affects your efficiency, I'm afraid."

Another cackle. This one cruel.

' _And yet, your companions stink of fear.'_

Baron stilled again, and then his gaze flickered to Haru. To Muta. Faint surprise ran through his eyes, a murmured, "Then we finish this now," falling from his lips as he turned round to the reflection. "And me?" he asked, louder. Haru could see his face in the window, his features nearly completely obscuring the mask's. There was something gently amused, almost curious in his next words. "What fear do you sense in me?"

The mask's jaw loosened with the edge of an answer, and then it paused. Its head reared back in something that might have been fear itself. ' _What have you done?'_

Baron smiled. "I think we're finished here. Haru, pass me that cloth, will you? Thank you." He stepped back and slipped it across the window.

Suddenly the research station felt very empty and very quiet.

"That's it?" Muta said. "It killed an entire crew of scientists, and all we had to do was cover a window?"

"Reflection," Baron specified. "At its current strength, it was still restricted to existing within reflections. Take that away, and it can do little more than exist as a very unorthodox paper weight." He returned to the mask and started to wrap it up in another cloth. "Admittedly, it's times like this where the Sanctuary would certainly come in handy as somewhere to store this out of the way until it returns back to its dormant state, but…" Satisfied it was entirely hidden from view, he tucked it under one arm. "Do you think CAP is taking on prisoners right now?"

"Yer want to reform the murder mask?"

"Technically, all it needs is fear to feed on. If its murdering tendencies could be curbed, I'm sure it could live quite contently in a haunted house attraction. If we found the right carnival – maybe one in a spirit world – it could even earn a living at it."

Haru gingerly took the mask from Baron and settled it into her bag. "Are you sure? I mean, the last time CAP took a prisoner, he… you…"

Baron looked at her, and waited for her to finish her sentence.

"Look," Haru said, "even if this murder mask is… well, a murder mask, the way CAP was designed to 'correct' people… doesn't always go according to plan. People come out… less."

"Less murdery would be a significant improvement," Muta muttered. "Hey, if we keep it, maybe we can dump it next to the Drosselmeyer accordion and ya can start a murderous inanimate object collection. As long as yer mam doesn't decide to have a garage sale."

Haru scowled. "Okay, I'll consider the CAP option. But only if he agrees to take it slow. And run everything he does by us first. But I do like that haunted house idea."

"Then it's agreed," Baron said.

Haru grabbed Baron's arm as he started to turn to the exit. "Hey, Baron? What was the mask on about back there? What did it mean when it asked what you'd done?"

He smiled again. "It was just another attempt at a mind-trick, Haru. I wouldn't worry about it."

She released him. As she watched him turn away, the pit of her stomach churned with the sickening knowledge she had just been lied to.

ooOoo

"So, you and Baron…" The café was lively with evening crowds, conversations bright with the thought of the oncoming weekend ahead, but their table was quiet. Still. For several moments, the only sound was the swilling of Michael's coffee dregs. "Are you two a thing now?"

Haru sipped at her tea, if nothing more than to delay her answer. She wanted to tell him the truth, but wasn't sure what the truth was anymore. In the end, she settled on, "I don't know." The café-made tea didn't taste as good as Baron's blend, but it had been a while since he'd made her a cup. She drank it anyway. "There was a moment when I thought we might be, that whatever had kept him quiet all this time had been put behind him, but…" She trailed off. She stirred her tea, concentrating on the sound of the spoon tapping against cup.

"When you kissed?"

The spoon stilled. "What?"

"The moment when you thought you might be a couple," Michael explained. "Was that when you kissed?"

She reddened. "Who told you that?"

"Muta. That cat has a mouth as big as his stomach. Especially if you bribe him with cake."

"Cheat."

"It worked, didn't it? So… is it true?"

She thought of that moment, of her starlit dress and the way his eyes had reflected that glow as he looked at her, and she wanted to confirm it with all her heart.

And then she thought of all the moments that had passed and her mouth dried. She shrugged. "I don't know, he seems…" and she had to fight to keep her voice from going, "distant. Maybe he's just still recovering from Toto leaving, I mean, we all are, but..." She hesitated. "It'll be fine. It always is. Almost."

ooOoo

She pulled Baron aside, fingers white-knuckled as they dug into his arm. "We don't have time to faff about with stupid little riddles, Baron!" she hissed. She threw her other hand out towards the river of lava stretching out before them, interspersed by a scattering of floating rocks. "If we don't get to the centre of all this in time to stop mamma dragon from a literal meltdown, this whole place is going to go sky-high!"

"What would you rather do?" Baron returned. His voice was calm, rational in comparison to Haru's sharp tone. "Run and hope you land on the correct stones?"

"They don't sink _immediately_. If we're quick–"

"You'll get yourself killed."

"We've had stupider plans."

"Which have _never_ gone without a hitch."

"We're not dead yet," she retorted.

They stared, unyielding, at one another.

Baron carefully freed his arm. "Haru, you're letting your emotions get the better of you–"

"You're damn right I am! There are lives at stake here, Baron!"

"And panicking isn't going to help anyone."

"I'm not panicking. I'm reacting." She snatched up the baby dragon into her arms. "Now, are you going to help me hot-foot it across this river of doom, or are you going to keep staring at that damn riddle?"

"The riddle will tell us the correct path–"

A rumble shook the cavern and more smoke gushed from the far side.

"No time," she gasped. "Come on, Baron; are you with me or not?" She laid her hand before him, willing him to take it. "Please."

He looked to the hand, then to Haru, and she could see the answer in his face. "The riddle is our best chance–"

"Sometimes it's not about best chances," she retorted. She withdrew her hand and pulled the baby dragon closer into her arms. "Sometimes it's about the right choices."

She turned and ran across the unstable layer of rocks, unable to hesitate or glance back lest her footing sink before she found her next step. But she didn't need to.

She knew he wasn't following.

ooOoo

"So, there I am, finally cornering this overgrown hairball thing, Baron and Muta stuck on the other side of the chasm," Haru recalled, leaning across the kitchen table as she recounted the recent case, "and I'm just starting to think that, you know, maybe we have it under control, when it opens its mouth and there is just… teeth–"

"So many teeth," Muta agreed. "You screamed."

"Rows and rows of tiny shark-like teeth," Haru said. "And I only screamed a little bit and it was entirely justified. Like, this thing was about this big," and she motioned a foot wide with her hands, "and it must have been 90% teeth."

"Officially, it's closer to 15%," Baron offered.

"You didn't nearly have your face bitten off by this thing. You don't get to judge."

Naoko frowned. "What do you mean it nearly bit your face off?"

Haru hesitated. "Did I say that? I was exaggerating."

"No, yer not."

"Shut up, Muta."

"It literally drooled on ya, it got that close."

"Please don't remind me."

Naoko sighed. "And at what point in this story do I stop worrying?"

Haru gestured to herself. "I'm here, aren't I? With my face intact. Anyway, so there I am, cornering this miniature furry piranha thing, and Baron shouts at me that I already have everything I need to beat it. And, okay, I'm tired. I am covered in monster drool and all I'm aware of is that I don't have a nice big steel box to trap it in–"

"Excuses, excuses," Muta guffawed.

"Oh shush. So I shout back, 'The power to believe in myself?' and Baron goes–"

"'No, my cane!'" Muta finished. "'Hit it!'"

Haru and Muta cracked up, and in the contagious humour, Naoko found herself laughing also. "I'm sorry," she said, "but were you planning on stopping a monster with the power of _belief_?"

"In – in my defence," Haru wheezed, "it sometimes works."

"Really? How often?" her mother asked.

"Uh, I don't have to answer that."

Wiping away her tears of laughter, Haru caught Baron's eyes and her grin started to fade. He was smiling, but the expression was absent-minded. Automatic. She realised he hadn't even chuckled, and something in her gut twisted.

ooOoo

Haru leapt through the air, time seemingly standing still in that moment where she was neither rising nor falling – and then gravity claimed her and she was landing on the other rooftop, rolling once, twice, before finally slamming to a painful halt across the far side.

She coughed, reassured by the tenor of pain that she had only acquired bruises and scrapes, and tilted her head to see the wyrm slither impatiently along the first rooftop. It curled angrily in on itself as it snapped at the escaped prey. "Huh," she wheezed. "Looks like you were right. Wyrms can't jump. Good guess." She coughed again and pulled herself up, her eyes eventually locating Baron. She managed a shaky smile. "What? No catch this time?"

Baron finished lockpicking the access panel to the building below, and glanced back. "You survived, didn't you?"

Brushing off her scraped kneecaps, she supposed she had.

Her hands still came away bloodied.

ooOoo

"Baron, we need to talk."

She sat down on the side of her bed, watching him work through another case file at the miniature desk they had set up atop her ordinary one. He didn't pause in his writing.

"I'm listening."

"About Toto," she said.

She waited for a response – for the unease, or shame, or even the anger she had come to know – but none came. All she received was a single flick of an ear in her direction. "What about him?"

She faltered. In her head, she had been so sure that Baron's reaction would carry the conversation on that she hadn't planned much more ahead. She shifted uncomfortably, tilting her head to better catch Baron's eye. "His leaving hit all of us hard, and I just thought you might want to… talk about it."

"We did," he answered. "During the remnant case."

"No, we didn't. We ignored it."

Finally, he lowered his pen. "Haru, if his absence is still causing you distress–"

"I wasn't talking about me," she retorted, surprising herself with the curtness of her voice. She leant towards him, unease bubbling in her veins. "Before, back there, the remnant made you angry–"

"Things have changed, Haru. It doesn't matter anymore."

"It matters to _me_. Why are you angry, Baron?"

A strange smile caught on his lips. "I'm not. Not anymore."

His eyes were open and sincere, the smile uncomplicated. She found she believed him.

She wished she didn't.

"I hope that alleviates your fears," he said.

"No," she replied. "It doesn't."

ooOoo

In time, the undrunk cups of tea become a thing of the past.

Haru began to wonder if it wasn't a case of the tea being finally finished.

But of them not being made at all.

ooOoo

CAP gave Haru a strange look as she stepped through the portal, staring up at her from beneath his hat's peak. "Are you sure you want to do this? I haven't had any chance to begin working with it yet. It'll say whatever it can to scare you."

"Let it try," Haru said. She eyed the door before her, unimposing in its simplicity. "And you're sure its… manifesting abilities are deactivated?"

CAP nodded. "It can't do anything more than talk while in my world."

"Perfect."

There was the plop of CAP removing the lollypop from his mouth. "I was wondering… why send him to me at all? After what I did to Baron, I didn't think you'd want another prisoner here."

"Baron was the one to suggest it, actually," Haru said. She stepped up to the door and hovered a hand over the doorknob. It felt cool to the touch. "And if he didn't have a problem with it, then…" She trailed off and spared a smile to CAP. "Anyway, this is your purpose, and maybe you can help it. It's not as if we had many other ideas, except maybe keeping it in my mother's attic for the rest of its existence, and there's no way _that_ could end in disaster."

"Hm." The lollypop returned to his mouth.

Haru's fingers tapped over the handle. She glanced back again. "You can… read people, can't you? Sort of… sort of see inside them, in order to know what to do with them, right?"

"In a way."

"Did Baron seem...? Was he… _different_ when we dropped off the mask?"

CAP didn't answer immediately. Which was an answer all of its own. "I don't know how to fix him, if that's what you're asking," he said. "I make them less, not more."

"I wasn't asking you to, I just…" She shook her head. "Never mind," she murmured and stepped into the cell.

The room beyond was bare, stark and devoid of details save for the lone pedestal raised in the centre, and atop it was the bear skull mask they'd retrieved from the Arctic research station.

' _Well, well, well…_ ' came the voice. The words didn't seem to travel from mouth to ear, so much as springing, fully formed, into her mind. Haru had almost forgotten how disconcerting the experience was. ' _That took longer than expected. But then, denial is a powerful drug_.'

"Before," Haru said, cutting across before the voice could wheedle any further into her mind, "Baron asked if you could sense any fear in him."

' _Yes–'_

"And the answer you found seemed to almost scare you–"

' _No, not scare,_ ' the voice hissed. The words were sharp, almost painfully so in the confines of her head. ' _Nothing can scare me_.'

"Fine," Haru conceded. "Well, whatever it was, you didn't like it. So what did you find? What was it about Baron that made you react like that?"

The laughter echoed, even if it could only bounce off the insides of Haru's mind. There was a cruelty in it that set her nerves on edge. ' _You mean you don't know?_ ' it cackled. ' _Poor, deluded human. Your mind has already figured it out, but your heart resists._ '

"I'm not here for your mind games," Haru growled. "Just spit it out!"

' _He's hollow,_ ' the voice rasped. The tone took on an almost sing-song quality. ' _Poor, deluded human is in love with a hollow puppet and hopes her heart is enough for two…_ '

"I don't… You're _wrong_ –"

' _I looked into the space where fear and pain should be and found nothing. Everything fears something. Even hollow wooden puppets. Unless they're heartless._ '

"That… No… You're lying. You've got to be lying."

Unbidden, her mind rolled back to the moment where they had danced, that kiss, and all the precious little moments that had followed… all those brief, tender moments that had become briefer and more infrequent as the days passed. Her fingers twitched, remembering the feel of scabby bloody knees beneath her touch. The grazes had long healed, but she could still recall the crack of bone against brick as she'd hit the roof.

' _Sure, sure_ ,' the voice crooned. It shifted quality, to give the impression of circling her. She kept her eyes fixedly on the mask. ' _There was a little left when I met him, but it's gone now. Or almost. It was fading even as we talked, and from your memories, it looks to be almost complete_.'

"What is?"

Again, that cruel, gloating laugh. ' _Like I'm going to make it that easy_.'

"Tell me!"

' _Thank you for your time, Miss Haru. It has been most… entertaining._ '

ooOoo

"This is ridiculous," Haru whispered, shivering despite the overbearing heat of the deserted village. She leant against Baron and didn't comment when he shifted away from her.

The action wasn't malicious. She almost wished it were; that would be _something_. Instead, it was simply automatic and impersonal. The same way she might move away from a stranger sitting too close on a tram. She kept her attention focused on where they had last seen Muta. "Can you believe some of the things that we encounter?" she said. "I mean, ghost cats? What's next? Ghost _turtles_?"

He didn't chuckle or give any indication of amusement. She was almost becoming accustomed to that nowadays, and she wasn't sure what to make of that. Still, some habits lingered. The sarcastic humour was a comforting buffer against the edges of panic.

"We have encountered stranger," Baron reminded her.

"That's very subjective at this point." She knelt down behind the empty doorway and leant against the old stone wall. The desert sands had long begun to take over the empty village, the warm breeze carrying it into the buildings until they stood, half-submerged beneath a layer of wind-swept sand. She had to crouch to avoid hitting her head on the ceiling, the sand piled so high in places.

Something moved in the room beyond. It sounded solid. Corporeal. Certainly not the ghostly feline that had been haunting the settlement, and that gave Haru enough courage to peer round the doorframe and to the source.

A large white cat occupied the centre, paws shuffling clumsily as if he had only just awoken. Haru exhaled in relief and pulled herself through into the room. "Muta! You gave us a real scare back there – what happened? Why didn't you–"

Muta turned to look at her. Which shouldn't have been startling, except for the singular fact that his neck did a 180-turn to do so. Haru's breath caught in her throat as she was stared at by unseeing eyes, his usual dark irises rolled into the back of his head.

"Possession," Baron commented. "Well, that explains a lot."

"Tell me we can undo this," Haru breathed.

"Naturally. I believe this particular kind of spectre doesn't do well against iron or salt, but since we now have a medium with which to communicate through, it would be foolish to waste the opportunity to gleam information."

She dropped a hand back and curled it tightly around his arm. "No. We stop it _now_."

He looked to her. The only expression he wore was mild surprise. "We have a unique opportunity here–"

"Look at what it's doing to Muta!" she snapped.

"Once it leaves him, he will be unharmed."

Muta's form hissed. Black smoke curdled at his mouth and flowed across the sand.

"Trust me," Baron said. "I have this situation under control."

There was the sound of bones cracking.

"We can learn much more."

The whites of Muta's eyes turned black.

"It's not worth it," Haru whispered, and she became aware that tears were rolling down her cheeks. Tears of fear and heartbreak – but, most potently, tears of _anger_. She instinctively wiped them away with her hands and then seemed to take note of them. She scowled at Baron. "And the Baron I knew would know that too," she snarled, and she turned her back on him as she ran to Muta. Her tear-stained hands curled around the cat's face, and where the salty tears made contact, smoke steamed.

Muta's form writhed, but she only pulled him closer towards her and dropped her forehead against his. She let more tears fall, tears of relief now as each one quietened the ghost until Muta gave a familiar grumble and headbutted her away.

"Ugh. Worst possession _ever_. Thanks, Chicky."

"Anytime," she replied hoarsely.

Baron didn't move. She could feel his presence, so unnaturally still and vacant. "See?" he asked. "Unharmed."

Haru swept to her feet in a sharp motion and snapped to a halt before him. She ignored the way her gut twisted as she met those unwavering, impassive eyes, her fingers digging painfully into her palms. "What is _wrong_ with you?" she demanded. "You watched what that thing did to Muta, and you didn't even flinch! Don't you care what happened to him? What it could have done?"

"The situation was under–"

"Control," she finished. "Yes, you said. That doesn't change anything."

"He was never in any real danger–"

"It was hurting him–"

"He's survived through worse."

"That doesn't matter!" Haru yelled. Her breathing was shuddering, her limbs suddenly shaken. She inhaled slowly and forced herself to unclench her fists. When she spoke again, her voice was barely more than a whisper. "That doesn't matter, and the Baron I knew – the Baron I _loved_ – knew that. I don't know what's happened, but you're changing and I don't know why. What happened, Baron? What did you _do_?"

She met his gaze, and there was a moment where he seemed on the verge of reaching out to her before remembering himself and drawing back. Still those distant eyes didn't change.

And he told her.

**ooOoo**

**Teaser: _"Trust us," Haru said, "we don't want to be here any longer than we need to either. We just came back to fix something you broke." "Ah," the Queen said. "The Creation." / The remnant was a shifting mass of light, about the height of a person and pulsing in time to the melody of Katzen Blut. All set in a familiar golden, starlit glow. "It's mine," Haru said. "I made this remnant." / "You want back the Baron you once knew," the remnant said. "It's hurting you, but I can stop that." / Her fingers dug into the cream fur with an intimacy that would have been tender any other time. "Look at me," Haru whispered. "Please, Baron. Just look at me."_**


	13. Episode 13: Queen of Hearts (Part 3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Returning to the emotionless world, the Bureau works to undo the damage done to Baron, but find their time hindered by a new remnant with a familiar source. Also in this case: open heart surgery, Katzen Blut (again), and a happiness monster.

_The Bureau Files: Series 5_

**ooOoo**

**Episode 13: Queen of Hearts (Part 3)**

The world of the remnants had changed since their last visit, although Haru couldn't put into exact words what transformation had taken place. The light seemed warmer, the air strangely sweeter, the colour of the buildings decidedly brighter. Only the palace seemed unaffected, just as domineering and ominous as it had the first time around.

The Queen stayed in her shadows, the gentle tap of fingers against her throne the only sign that she was indeed alive and not some ventriloquist's doll. "I thought," she intoned, her voice echoing in that cavernous hall, "that I had made it abundantly clear your presence here wasn't wanted."

"Trust us," Haru said, "we don't want to be here any longer than we need to either. We just came back to fix something you broke."

Haru saw the outline of the Queen's head tilt. She wondered if the monarch could sense the hostility emanating from her. "Ah," the Queen said. "The Creation."

"Yes," Haru said. "The Creation."

The Queen sighed and rose from her throne. "I did warn him that there might be… unpleasant side effects. He agreed not to seek retribution if such a thing occurred."

"He might have, but I didn't."

"True." The Queen descended from the dais, her pale cloak falling close around her. Her perfectly poised mask almost seemed to glow in the sanguine light as she looked to Baron. "And what does the Creation say?"

Baron had been quiet through the entire ordeal, not hindering as Haru and Muta organised their return, but not helping either. Haru had almost wished he would protest, just to see him care about _something_. He inclined his head in a respectful bow. "I have no complaints."

The Queen gave a small sound that might have been something akin to amusement. "So I can see," she said. Her mask turned to Haru. "But you do?"

"Yes."

She looked back to Baron and proffered her hand before him. "May I?"

Baron nodded, and the Queen plunged her hand into his chest.

A gagging sound caught in Haru's throat, but Baron did not fall nor show any sign of pain at the unnatural intrusion. There was only the lightest gasp from him as the Queen withdrew her hand and in her gloved palm sat a glittering, crimson gem.

His heart.

Yet he did not collapse.

The Queen caught Haru's frozen stare, and again there was that faint sound of amusement at Haru's horror. "Fear not," she said, "for he's in no pain. The rules of this world differ much from yours; here, hearts are made of much sturdier elements than simply flesh and blood and such a simple action as removing it will not harm the owner."

Even Muta sounded hoarse. "Is that what yer did to him the first time?"

"Naturally." The Queen brought Baron's heart into the light, and now Haru could see the interior gave a faint, pulsing glow; any dimmer and it would have been extinguished entirely. The Queen's eyes crinkled as she examined it. "Curious…" she murmured. "The removal of the negative emotions appears to have directly impacted the positive ones…"

"Can you undo it?" Haru asked.

"Mostly."

"' _Mostly_ ' isn't good enough–"

"I can return the emotions he lacks, but _he_ must be the one to accept them," the Queen interjected.

"And if he doesn't?" Muta asked.

"Then his heart will return to its current state, regardless of my efforts."

Haru looked to Baron.

He returned the look, reading the question in her eyes. "Are you sure this is what you want?" he asked.

"Yes."

He inclined his head and turned back to the Queen. "Then I agree."

"Not agree," the Queen amended. " _Accept_. You must understand and willingly desire the change for it to take root. I can give you the potential, but you must be the one to acknowledge it. Do you understand?"

There was only the slightest pause in his words. "I understand."

"Then so be it."

The Queen reached into the folds of her cloak and from the darkness brought out a pendant. It came on a chain, the silver links unbroken despite pulling it from her neck. A silver ring hung from it, within it a diamond-shaped jewel, each corner tipped with a different coloured glass, and again within that was a clear, four-pointed star.

She removed her gloves and, for the first time, Haru saw the Queen's skin.

It was an absolute black, unmarked and unblemished save for cracks that ran along her hand. Those cracks opened into light, into a shifting, nebulous brightness that flowed between colours with a gentle, pulsing current. It changed like twisting smoke.

Even as Haru watched, the deep ocean-blue shade diminished and gave way to a lava red. The pendant in her palm mirrored it, each corner of the jewel blazed with their respective colour as the Queen's cracked skin shifted, until the entire pendant was awash in light.

A spark flickered to life in the centring star. Gently at first. But as more and more of the jewel came to life, the glimmer grew and grew into a flame of pink – unfound in the rest of the pendant – shimmering in its core.

In her other hand, the gemlike heart began to beat. The dying light inside intensified, brightened, the colours overlapping in a sea of shades, swirling faster and faster until it was a blinding white. It overwhelmed the blood-red lanterns of the palace and threw the black columns into stark light, their long shadows falling across the hollow hall in sharp, unforgiving lines. All pulsing in time to that strange heartbeat.

And then, just as the light was becoming painful, the Queen pressed the heart back into Baron's chest and the throne room dropped into darkness. In the ensuing silence, Haru could still hear her own heart beating in time to that hypnotic rhythm.

She reached out to where she thought Baron was, her hand finding purchase on his shoulder.

He twitched, like he was reining in the instinct to shrug off the contact.

"Baron, do you feel… any different?"

"It will take time," the Queen warned. As Haru's eyes readjusted to the dim glow of the lanterns, she located the Queen retreating back to her throne, falling back into shadow once more. "I have laid the foundations, but the rest is up to the Creation."

Haru rounded on Baron, her grip tightening. Her gaze flickered momentarily to his jacket, but there was no sign that his heart had ever been taken once, let alone twice. She attempted a smile. "Baron…?"

He met her gaze. For a moment, there was something more – a shadow of something – and then it vanished. The smile he returned to her didn't reach his eyes. "I… don't know. I suppose only time will tell."

"As I said. Now, if you have no further business here, _leave_ ," the Queen intoned. "I have another remnant to deal with and no more time to waste with _emotional_ _outsiders_. Go."

ooOoo

Haru's hand stayed tightly around Baron's as they left the palace, as if she was afraid that whatever the Queen had done to undo her previous actions might slip between her fingers if she gave it the slightest chance. She didn't release even when – in her haste – she tripped on a plaza cobblestone and barely recovered her balance in time. He didn't shake off her hold.

But neither did he return it.

She came to a halt as they reached the edge of town. The portal crystal loaned from the Cat Kingdom still rested in her bag.

"You are aware that we could have transported back to the Cat Kingdom at any point before now?" Baron reminded her. "We needn't have returned to our original portal location."

"I know," Haru said. She spun on the balls of her feet to face him and tried to pretend her heart wasn't sick with unease. That she wasn't delaying the return back because of some silly little fear that if they left before Baron reverted, then the Queen's magic would fade beyond this realm and she'd lose him forever. "But I wanted the walk."

Music filtered through the quiet street, and if Haru focused, she could almost fool herself into believing it was Katzen Blut once more.

She stared into those eyes she had seen a hundred times, and tried to ignore the way her heart ached at the emptiness now engulfing them. Her hand released his as both found his face, fingers digging into the cream fur with an intimacy that would have been tender any other time. "Look at me," she whispered. "Please. Just look at me."

And he did.

For that moment, something almost sparked. For that moment where their eyes met, she saw a shadow of the Baron she knew.

And then he looked past her, his gaze glazing over with disinterest. The smile that rose to his lips was polite. Impersonal. Distracted. "Do you hear that music?"

"Baron," Haru begged, willing him to look at her – to really look at her and _see_ her. "Why did you do it?"

"Isn't it obvious?" he asked. "I was hurting you. All of you. You, Muta, Toto…"

Again, there was that near-flash of something that could have almost been emotion.

His gaze flickered away again.

"That music…"

"So you just decided to remove it?" she demanded. "All the anger, all the sadness–"

"Why not?" he returned. "I did once before."

"And you were haunted by the Duke's presence for _decades_ because of it."

"But weren't you happier, even then? You were," he assured himself, "before I rejoined with the Duke. Things were… simpler. Better."

Haru hesitated.

"Why do I need those emotions anyway?" he continued. His hands curled around hers and firmly peeled them away. "Anger, sadness, fear, shame, guilt… What good did they ever do anyone except bring pain?"

"You have to–"

"No. I don't." He released his grip and stepped away. Suddenly, the portal crystal was in his hands, although Haru had been too distracted to notice him slipping it from her bag. "Now, since we are done here–"

"When was the last time you made tea?"

He faltered. "What?"

She stepped back towards him. "Tea," she repeated. "When was the last time you made a batch of your own blend of tea?"

"I… It's not easy, being outside the Sanctuary–"

"You used to shift heights all the time back at home just so you could reach the kettle," she said. "It drove me crazy – all that wasted magic on _tea_. But you loved it. All that tinkering, all that trial and error over something as mundane as tea blends, but you've stopped. Why did you stop?"

"I–"

"And I haven't heard you laugh in weeks."

"The situation has hardly been humorous recently–"

"I know you're not exactly the belly-busting laughing type, but you've barely cracked a smile these last weeks. Not even a chuckle."

"Since Toto's departure–"

"Don't even try to use Toto's absence as an excuse!" Haru snapped. "You removed that part of you that misses him – that's just another 'bad' emotion that you don't want to have to deal with! But the rest of us? We're stuck missing him, only now we have to worry over you too! We don't get to opt out of our grief so don't you _dare_ use that as an excuse!"

"I'm… sorry."

"No, you're not," she muttered. "To be sorry you have to actually regret it. And you gave up that as well." She ran a hand through her hair, her breath coming out in shudders. She forced herself to be still. "Did you even realised you'd stopped making tea, or did it not occur to you before now?"

He was silent.

"Baron, whatever the Queen did to you – whatever you agreed to – don't you see it's much more than just removing the 'bad' emotions? You're…" She faltered. "I would say 'sad', but it's not even that. It's like… you're empty. You don't laugh, you don't make tea, you don't _do_ anything anymore, you just sit there and wait for the next Bureau case to distract you and– are you even listening to me?"

"Can't you hear the music?"

She scowled. "Really? _That's_ what you're going to choose to think about right now? The damn music? Who even cares…" She trailed off.

It wasn't _nearly_ Katzen Blut.

It _was_ Katzen Blut.

She frowned, but this time it was borne of curiosity. "Maybe the musician remembers it from when Muta taught her?" She shook her head. "Look, is that really important right now– where are you going?"

He slowed as he went to turn a corner. "To investigate," he said, as if it were the most obvious answer in the world. "Since we're already here."

Haru glanced down to Muta. He shrugged. "Good try, Chicky."

"Yeah." She scowled and tightened her bag's straps as she followed, nearing the source of whatever was playing that memory-heavy melody. "It's not just me, is it?" she asked. "He is different, right?"

"Yeah."

"Can you do anything to help or…?"

"Look, the talky-feely business is your and Baron's department. And Toto's," he added after a moment.

"Yeah, well Toto's not here, so it's just down to you and me," Haru said. She picked up her pace as Baron turned another corner. "Still, any ideas?"

Muta opened his mouth.

"Actual ideas, and not sarcastic one-liners," Haru specified.

Muta closed his mouth.

"Thought so."

Up ahead, Baron had come to an abrupt halt at the opening of an alleyway. It glimmered with golden light, the glow falling across his face.

"Look, is this really the time for another light show or–" Haru began to scold, but then verbally and physically came to a stop as she stepped up beside him and saw the source. "Oh."

"Indeed," Baron agreed.

She stared for a moment longer. "At least it's not a goop monster this time."

"That's true."

"It _is_ a remnant though, isn't it?"

"The Queen did mention they were having trouble with one, so it seems likely."

"Guess they lost track of it."

Baron nodded, but didn't add anything else.

At first glance, the remnant seemed to be a shifting mass of light, about the height of a person and pulsing in time to the music that seeped from it. But as Haru's eyes adjusted to the brightness, she began to pick out more features. A head. An arm. _Arms_ , plural, that twisted and swayed to the melody. A billowing skirt that swirled as the form spun.

All set in that golden, starlit glow.

That _familiar_ , golden, starlit glow.

"Oh," Haru breathed, and something inside her recognised it. Something clicked with more than mere deduction. Instinct, maybe? It was like coming home. "Oh," she repeated, softly, "it's mine."

She took a half-step towards it before catching herself, but the remnant didn't seem to notice. Indeed, all it did was carry on that same, one-sided dance as if there was no one watching.

Baron looked to her with something approaching surprise. "Are you sure?"

She couldn't tear her eyes away from it. There were no features to be seen – just blankness where eyes should have rested, and a silhouette where skin should have been – but now Haru knew the truth, there could be no denying the cut of the dress nor the outline of the face. She swallowed. Something tugged at her mind, making the thoughts difficult to align. "Yeah," she said. "Pretty sure."

She blinked, shook her head, and glanced away. To Baron. "Don't you recognise your light magic? It looks just like that."

"It looks like it, but it isn't the same," he said.

"No, of course it isn't." Her gaze was drawn back to the remnant, almost unwittingly. "It's how I see it."

"Hold up, Chicky." Muta stayed at the edge of the alleyway, giving the remnant a wide berth. "Yer saying it's yours? What does that even mean?"

"It means," and she couldn't stop herself approaching it now, heart in her mouth as, unbidden, the memories rose through her mind, "that this remnant was formed from the emotions I had last time I came here."

"Which were?"

"Happiness." And even as she spoke, a strange lightness settled in her heart and a soft smile lit her lips. "This is a remnant of happiness."

She felt, rather than saw or heard, her companions falter at the realisation.

"So…" Muta drawled, "does that mean we can go home? Case solved?"

"I fail to see how a happiness remnant can be considered an issue," Baron said, "regardless of the Queen's concern over its appearance."

"Yeah, perhaps it'll liven up this ghost town. A little bit of happiness never harmed anyone."

"Maybe," Haru said. That lightness was bubbling up through her, washing away all the ugly feelings she'd been battling against in her argument with Baron. With a sigh, she felt the last trace of her anger slip away. Her shoulders slackened. "It feels kind of wrong to stop the literal embodiment of joy, anyway." She turned away and headed back into the open square. "Let's just leave this world and never ever come back."

"Sounds good to me. Hey, do ya think yer mam will have left any of her lemon drizzle cake for us?"

"How should I know?" Haru glanced back to Baron and felt a phantom twist in her gut as she saw his expression was unchanged from the brief remnant encounter. And then the unease evaporated and she was left with the vague sensation that there was something she should be worrying about. And then even that vanished.

She shook her head and continued on across the street. However benign the remnant might have been, even its influence couldn't squash the instinct to get away before they travelled back to their world.

"Maybe yer overthinking it," Muta said. Even he sounded a little bit more upbeat from their brush with the creature, albeit as gruff as ever. "I mean, this place does seem better than when we last visited, Chicky. Just look at it."

"Yeah," Haru said. "Maybe."

"Perhaps a happiness remnant is no bad thing. Look, they even fixed up the plaza the grief monster messed up."

Haru halted. She had been so caught up in sidestepping that enforced happiness that she had barely noticed they were passing by the very same plaza from before. In fact, she probably wouldn't have recognised it without Muta's prompting, it looked so different from before. She frowned. "They've done a lot of work these last few weeks then."

"Tell me about it. Yer can hardly tell it was damaged to begin with."

"No. You can't." She bit her lip. "I wonder…"

She stepped through the plaza, as strangely empty as the rest of the city. Despite the flawless restoration work, there was no sign of building work; no scaffolding or stonework, not even a fault scar where new brick met old. It was, as Muta had put it, as if it had never been damaged to begin with.

Her toe caught on something and she stumbled, cursing lightly as pain throbbed through her foot. She looked back, but the paving was as smooth as the rest of the plaza. She prodded the ground with her foot. Her toe sank into the flawless rock. No, not into it. _Through_ it.

"Uh, guys?" she called. "You might want to come take a look at this."

She knelt down and skimmed a hand over the street, and now she could feel imperfections that jarred with the truth of her eyes. Whereas on first sight it appeared to be flawless, her hands found torn up cobblestones and ugly gashes in the ground.

Exactly how the grief remnant had left it.

She looked up to Baron and Muta. "It's all fake," she said. "It's just an illusion to make it look like it's been fixed."

"Talk about yer fixer-upper."

She rose back to her feet and, now warily stepping through the unseen mess, made her way to one of the buildings the grief remnant had destroyed. Sure enough, as she got closer she found her way blocked by what felt to be rubble. She reached into it, and the air shimmered around her hand. She pulled out the remains of a brick, seemingly appearing out of thin air.

"Maybe it was an attempt to cover the damage up during the coronation celebrations, and the spell hasn't been lifted since due to the new remnant's appearance," Baron suggested.

"Nah, this place was still a wreck for the party. They hadn't even got the bakery back up and working."

Ignoring them, Haru turned the crumbled brick over in her hands. It glimmered in the light, tiny pinpricks of gold catching the sun as she twisted it. She looked back to the other two. "I don't think this is a cleaning up spell," she said. "I mean, _look_ at this place. It looks even better than it did during the coronation. All the buildings look like they've been repainted, even the ones that weren't damaged, and the air smells like…" and she inhaled, trying to identify the scent, "like peaches. No city smells like that, not matter how good your sewage system is."

"What are ya saying?"

She glanced back to the brick. The shimmer was beginning to fade, but it was just enough to strengthen her conviction. "It's the happiness remnant. It has to be."

"Great theory, Chicky. Just run us through yer train of thought and perhaps we'll agree with you."

"I'm… still working that one out," Haru admitted, "but something's off. We have to go back."

"And do what? Kid, I'm all for stopping monsters, but this ain't something you can just hit with a stick." Muta hurried to keep up with Haru as she turned heel and headed back the way they'd come. "I mean, probably. Look, this ain't our world. Let them deal with this–"

"It's my remnant, Muta."

"Yeah, and _their_ weird world magic that created it. Why are _you_ so intent on stopping it?"

"Isn't this what we do? Helping people, stopping monsters?" Haru retorted, rattling off the automatic answer before she could think too long on it. She rounded another corner and came back to where the happiness remnant had danced. And was still dancing, its illuminated form continuing to step out those same repeating moves.

As she approached, the uncanny tranquillity began to seep into her bones once more. She clenched her jaw and tried desperately to hold onto her resolve, even as the remnant's influence rolled over her and tried reassure her that she was safe, she was happy, there was no reason to worry…

"Stop it," she muttered. "Just stop it."

She halted several metres away, afraid that any further and the remnant's contentment would wash away her purpose entirely. She forced herself to remember the anger she'd held against Baron, and the sense of purpose – of direction – it had granted her. The anger cleared away, if only briefly, the fog of happiness.

"What now, Chicky?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "Baron's light magic stopped the grief remnant, but this thing looks literally like it's made of light, so I can't imagine that would do anything…" How did one stop a creature literally made of happiness? She inhaled deeply, trying to unsettle the calm that was crawling into her limbs. "But we have to try something."

She dug her nails into her palms, focusing on the pain to keep the infectious carefree attitude at bay. It was only as she came within arm's reach of the happiness remnant that she realised she hadn't even considered Baron's help. One glance back showed that he was still at the far end of the alleyway, beyond the most potent of the remnant's influence.

She returned her attention to the remnant and mentally floundered. This wasn't a plan, not even in the loosest sense of one. And they had had some real humdingers of hastily-complied plans in the Bureau's history. In the end, she decided to opt for the straightforward approach. "Hi, I'm… I'm Haru. I think it was my emotions that created you in this world."

It continued to dance.

"Look, I don't know why you're doing it, but you need to stop the illusion spell you're creating. You're not helping anyone, you're just making it more difficult to fix what was broken."

And still it danced.

"You need to undo it so people can actually repair the plaza and everything else the grief remnant did and… and you're not even listening…" She groaned and half turned away, hands running through her hair. The familiar frustrated action grounded her a little more, kept her mind sharp, so that when she looked back she did so with a critical eye. "And you just… I don't think you can even hear me. You're just stuck in that one moment you were created in."

Muta evidently saw the intent in her changing posture, for he gave a warning, "Chicky…"

"Hey, this coat was already ruined from the grief remnant," Haru said, and she pulled the sleeves over her hands and grabbed the remnant's arms, forcing its dance to a standstill. Her sleeves blistered into golden stains, and even through the immediate protection of her coat, she felt a fresh wave of contentment wash over her.

She almost lost her grip then.

The remnant looked to her, and she was greeted with empty, golden eyes. No irises, no whites, just gold. As if it were a figurine whose eyes were yet to be painted.

"Now I've got your attention," Haru rasped.

The remnant said nothing, but Haru felt the happiness sharpen. It crawled into the cracks in her mind, almost physically manifesting in her heart and lungs, lightening them, soothing them, smothering away the bitter memories…

Haru looked away, shifting her gaze towards Baron. She felt the enforced contentment falter, if only for a moment.

"You are… unhappy."

The voice that came from the remnant could have been Haru's. There were notes of her voice in it, audible in the curve of the words and the lilt of the vowels, except that Haru's voice rarely sounded like echoes travelling along a long tunnel. When Haru returned her attention to it, she saw the remnant's mouth didn't open with the words. She wondered whether it even possessed a mouth, and not just the thin impression of one.

"You are," it continued, "in pain."

The contentment intensified, taking hold for a moment, curling around her worries and her fears and smothering them. So what if Baron was left like this for good? At least he was here, at least he was alive. And Toto… Why worry about something she could do nothing about? If she wanted, she could just be lost in the moment, she could forget it all, she could be happy…

She shook her head with a sharp, jolted action, and the joy lost its footing. "No," she rasped. "It's not something you can just paint over."

There was a pause from the remnant, and then its hands were laid over hers; Haru couldn't even recall the exact moment the remnant had slipped from her grasp until in that second when suddenly its luminous palms were curled softly around hers. The golden stain soaked up through her coat, discolouring the material as far as her elbows.

"I see," it said. "You want back the Baron you once knew. It's hurting you, but I can stop that."

"Wait, what are you–" But before Haru could finish, it had waved a hand through the air and although there was no rush of wind, no whistle of breath, Haru felt a fresh wave of magic flow past her. She jolted away from it, twisting to follow the magic and turning just in time to see Baron's form shimmer. "What are you doing to him?!"

"Watch," the remnant whispered.

The light dimmed and Baron appeared unchanged, save for the glimmer of gold that flecked his eyes. Then he blinked and even that was gone.

Blinked again, and his eyes found hers.

He smiled.

Smiled, and the expression reached in his eyes. It danced alongside relief and affection and joy and a hundred other tiny emotions that had fallen from his face in the last few weeks. "Haru?"

She didn't move, not believing it – not daring to believe it – but there was the Baron she'd missed. Alive and whole and looking at her – _really_ looking at her. "Baron?" She didn't mean to move, but as the words slipped from her, her feet slipped into motion also. The happiness that radiated through her was not the remnant's influence, but pure, homemade joy. "Is that…? Did it…? Are you…?"

He laughed softly at her sudden speechlessness. "Maybe," he said. He breathed deeply, like he was coming up to the surface for the first time in a long, long while. "The remnant's magic appears to have triggered whatever the Queen did, restoring me to the state I was before I first approached her."

"Does that include anger?"

He tilted his head. "Would it worry you if it did?"

"It would worry me if it didn't," Haru admitted honestly.

He considered this. She watched him internally assess his emotions before giving a brief nod. "It's still there. Everything is. But it seems to have… cooled after all that dabbling of the heart." He smiled again, that same gentle smile she had fallen in love with over the years. "Things are looking up, Haru."

She laughed back, but it was a choked, bittersweet thing, tinged with all the emotions she'd endured over the last month. She dropped her head against his shoulder. "I'm glad," she whispered, her voice hoarse. "I'm glad. Baron, you scared me so badly back there. Please, don't… _Never_ do something like that again."

Again, another chuckle. "Lesson learned."

She closed her eyes and savoured the familiar scent of tea and mint, the tension she'd carried with her beginning to loosen and slip away and–

He shrugged her off.

It wasn't a hard shrug. Not even a pointed one. But it was familiar in ways that set her nerves back to being on edge. She jolted back as if stung, but the expression she was greeted with was apologetic, not the emptiness she had come to know.

"Haru, I'm sorry. I don't know why I did that… It's probably just the magic taking a while to come into full effect; there's bound to be odd moments–"

He froze as Haru reached out to him. He didn't try to shrug her off this time as she drew near, fingers digging into the fur along his jawline and feeling where the smile dimpled his cheeks.

Or where it didn't.

"This is just another illusion," Haru whispered.

The remnant was suddenly beside her, its golden glow shimmering over them. "Yes," it said, "but it made you happy, didn't it?"

"It's not real."

"To your eyes, it is. To your ears, it is. It fooled you, if but for a moment. Does it need to be any more?"

"Yes," Haru breathed. "Yes, it does." Eyes fixed on Baron, her vision began to swim, bitter, angry tears at the hope being ripped away from her. "Undo it. Undo it _now_."

"It won't make you happy."

"Neither will living a lie," Haru rasped.

"Only because you know it is one."

"Undo it!"

Another pause. Then, without words, the glamour faded from Baron and those dull, blank eyes were returned before her. She could now see the polite, half-hearted smile that her fingers had felt.

"Haru–"

"Don't talk to me!" she snapped. Her voice cracked and her hands snapped away from him. "Don't…" She heaved a shuddering gasp and suppressed the sob that was building in her throat. For a moment… for a moment she had truly believed the lie. She had _wanted_ to.

"There," the remnant said. "I told you it would only make you sad. If you would prefer, I could bring back the crow Creation instead. I could make him exactly how you remember him. You wouldn't be able to tell the difference unless you try to make contact."

"No."

"You wouldn't even notice he's not real–"

"I said no!"

"I don't understand," the remnant said. Its voice was gentle; a harsh juxtaposition to the anger lining Haru's words. "You are sad. You want things to go back to normal; I could give you that."

"You mean the illusion of it."

"You could choose to believe it. Surely that would be better than this… blind determination to drown in your sorrow. Why can't you accept it? Don't you want to be happy?"

"Of course I do–"

"Then why–?"

"Because it's a lie!" Haru snapped. She threw her arms out to the enchanted world, so bright and colourful under the remnant's glamour. "All of this is a lie."

"Not all of it. The happiness you felt when I was created was real."

"True," Haru agreed, "but I don't feel it anymore. I can't just… stay in that moment and never let anything change. You had your time. And it was…" She paused and a true, unprompted smile rose to her lips, "amazing and beautiful and I will cherish it as a memory forever – but that's all it is now. A memory. I have to move on so I deal with things when they go wrong, and so I can create more good memories. _You_ have to move on."

Haru didn't even realise the light had faded until she was looking directly into those golden eyes, and even without irises or pupils, Haru was sure she saw some glimmer of emotion other than joy. The remnant nodded. "You truly believe that, don't you?"

"Yes," Haru said, and her gaze flickered to Baron even as she continued to talk to the remnant. "We aren't like you. We have to feel everything if we are to feel anything at all. The good times, the bad times… they're all important. The good times only matter because we know that there will be the bad times, and the bad times make us treasure the good all the more. We have to feel both."

The glow had faded to a dim shimmer, and the sunlight filtering slowly through the remnant. The overbearing happiness had lost its grip, and the city about them was beginning to return to the dulled colours of reality.

"I see," it said. "Then there's nothing more I can do here."

The smile it gave as it vanished was a soft, gentle thing. Almost sad, if it could feel such a thing.

"Good luck."

And then it was gone.

Haru sighed, dropping her face against her entwined hands. She could already feel the anxiety and fear welling back up inside her without the remnant's presence, and she forced herself to keep it under check. No point stopping one remnant if all she was going to do was create another one immediately after.

She exhaled. "Time to head off, I think. Baron, if you've got the portal crystal back to the Cat Kingdom…?"

He passed it back to her without a word, and it was almost too easy to reactive the portal magic to bring them to their halfway home point. Her feet hit the stone floor of the Cat Kingdom palace and she was moving before her balance could give way. Her hand found Baron's, held tight, and led him away from the portal before anyone had a chance to intercede. "We need to talk."

He didn't argue as she pulled him into one of the many side rooms of the palace, but she wanted to believe his expression was different. A new kind of neutral from before.

But maybe she was being fooled. Again. Only this time it was all her own doing.

"Haru–"

"I don't know how to help you," she said. "Baron, I… I _can't_ help you, unless you let me. Is this how you want it to be? Like this? Because I can't make that decision for you, and if this is what you want…"

"Haru…"

"Is it? Because if it is, then I'll stop. I'll back away. Just… tell me what you want."

He didn't answer for a long time. His gaze focused on the wall behind her, and she could almost see the words forming in his mind and then failing on his lips. Eventually, quietly, he said, "The emotions… hurt. Since the Queen returned my heart whole, every time I feel the good, the bad is quick to follow."

"So you want to feel nothing?"

"I want…" He hesitated. A glimmer of unease flickered across those eyes. "They brought so much pain, to you, to Muta, to Toto…" Again, another spark of emotion she could almost have named as guilt. "I don't want to put you through that again. But I can't feel the good without the bad. I can't… It won't let me."

Haru gave a dry, tired chuckle. "Yeah, that's just part of being alive. And you want to know why? It's because bad things happen – or we make mistakes – and we have to deal with them." She stepped up to him, coming into his direct line of sight. Challenging him to look away. "And you can't deal with them by hiding them. You have to face them and be hurt by them and then finally learn from them so you can help others. Emotions are just… warning lights, letting us know that things are going right or wrong. To let us know if there's a problem."

"But anger–"

"Incites change," Haru retorted. "It lets us know when something is unjust or cruel and we need to stop it. Fear teaches us that things can harm us – and that we need to react." She hesitated. "Sadness for when we miss someone so we don't take them for granted next time they return. None of these emotions are inherently bad; it's only when we let them consume us that they become a danger. Heck!" she snapped, gesturing loosely to the air as if the remnant was still with them. "Even happiness can harm if we refuse to accept anything that might upset that balance. Emotions are not bad; it's what we do with them that matters."

She was breathing heavily, her lungs weighed with more than just the burden of breath. Her hand found his, fingers curling tight and holding on to that familiar lifeline. "You've got to feel the bad as well as the good," she whispered, "otherwise the good will stop meaning anything."

There was the slightest hitch in Baron's breath. "I never wanted to hurt you, Haru."

"I know."

"I just… I don't know how to do that. Every time I try to make things better, somehow I…"

"I know."

"Things have changed… I've changed, and I don't know if you want that."

She leant in, closing the gap so their foreheads touched. He didn't shrug her off. "I want," she whispered, "for you to try again. Only, this time, you won't do it alone. This time you let us help. Stop bottling it all up and _talk_ to us once in a while."

He smiled. "Only if you promise to do the same."

"What can I say, you got me into bad habits." She sighed, savouring the closeness and fearing for when it would end. "Please. Just try. We'll be here for you. We always have been."

A tear streaked down her cheek. It wasn't hers.

"It scared me," he whispered. The words were almost nothing more than a breath, barely able to travel the short distance to her. "Everything I had given Duke, everything I had been running away from, I didn't know how to control it… and then there came the chance to do it all over again. To rid myself of it, and I thought it would help. I wanted to be the Baron you thought I was. The Baron you deserved."

She chuckled again, but the sound was hoarse. "All I wanted was for you to talk to me. To be honest."

"I thought I could fix it."

"Yeah, and your solo plans always go so well, don't they?" She sighed, unsure if she had meant her words to be teasing or candid, and further unsure which way they had gone. "Baron, I love you, but I can't keep doing this. I can't keep… running along behind you, trying to piece together whatever madcap plan you've decided is the best for all of us. You do these things thinking you're the only one it'll hurt. Well, newsflash, moron, we all care about you, and every time you do something rash like that, we all suffer because we care too much to stand idly by and watch you _self-destruct_ in some grandiose show of martyrdom."

"Haru…"

"I just… You need to talk to us, Baron. I know you think you're protecting us by taking it all up on your own shoulders, but we can help. We _want_ to help. We just need you to let us."

He looked at her then. Truly looked, his eyes so close they nearly filled her entire vision. She saw the small smile crinkle the corners of his eyes. "Yes, I… I understand that now. I'm beginning to."

She kissed him, the action fleeting but sweet. She lingered in the hair's breadth between them. "You're an idiot, Baron, but you're my idiot. Just… don't scare me like that again. Please."

"I won't. I–" The words died, a strangled sound occupying his throat and fear in his eyes as fresh emotions elbowed their way back into his mind. Haru grabbed his arms to steady him, and his returning grip was like steel.

"Baron? Baron, talk to me!"

"Toto… Toto is turning to stone and it's all my doing…" he rasped, and she saw the guilt flood his gaze. He looked at her, but she could tell he wasn't really seeing her. "My friend, my oldest friend, and I couldn't even tell he was petrifying before me…"

She steered herself into his gaze, her grip nearly as tight as his. "None of us noticed, Baron. We all made that mistake."

"You didn't run from it though. But I… I just gave away that emotion because I didn't want to deal with it and I… _Ich wasste…_ "

His words blurred, and Haru thought it was only from the thickening of guilt but then words poured from him in a language she didn't know. Course consonants and harsh vowels rose through him in an expletive of emotion and she felt something…

She felt something _snap_.

Her grip tightened further, nails nearly cutting into the sleeves. "Baron? Baron! I don't… I can't understand you're saying!"

He halted. The guilt was shaken from its standing to be replaced with confusion. He spoke, but even as he reigned the emotions back in, the Sanctuary's lingering translation magic didn't take back over as it had done with Toto.

"I don't…" Haru whispered. "Baron, I don't understand."

He hesitated, and then clumsy Japanese formed on his lips. "The Sanctuary…" he managed. "Talking magic… has gone." He looked at her with a fresh kind of grief, with so much left unspoken but lacking the words to tell her. Instead, he could only draw her close and plant a kiss that felt more like a promise. "Home," he said, and the words were heavy, emphasis dropping in all the wrong places but the sincerity audible. "Time to go home."

ooOoo

Haru didn't want to do anything when she finally returned home, but there were two figures on her windowsill, one she hadn't seen in weeks – one she had been afraid she wouldn't see again – and the other…

"Oh, good; you've finally returned." Louise leapt down from Toto's back and tipped her wide-brimmed hat with a familiar dramatic flair. "We've been waiting for you. There's work to be done and no time to spare." She grinned. "We've found the Sanctuary."

x

" _Give sorrow words. The grief that does not speak whispers the o'erfraught heart and bids it break_."

Macbeth, Act 4, Scene 3.

**ooOoo**

**Inspired By:** _**Truth Begins In The Lies Of The Mirror** _ **TCR fanfic. Written by Rose. M. Rainwave.**

 **References:** _**The Thing.** _ **Directed by John Carpenter. (The Arctic research station.)**

 _**Skulduggery Pleasant** _ **. Written by Derek Landy. ("That, I believe, is a monster" exchange.)**

 _**Super Robot Monkey Team Hyper Force Go!** _ **Created by Ciro Nieli. (Robot monkey reference.)**

 _**The Dragon Prince** _ **. Created by Aaron Ehasz and Justin Richmond. (The lava river.)**

 _**Once Upon A Time** _ **. Created by Adam Horowitz. (Heart-removal)**

 _**Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch** _ **. Developed by Level-5. (Queen Asvoria's design.)**

**The murder mask is based on thedrunkenwerewolf's OC the Voice, who she kindly allowed me to borrow when I told her I needed something monstrous to try to unnerve the Bureau. (I believe the Voice also makes an appearance in her Ancient Magus Bride AU: The Baron's Apprentice, so go check that out!)**

**ooOoo**

**Next Story:** _**Sanctuary** _

**Teaser:** _ **Haru Yoshioka stood before the old brick wall and reached out to where an archway had once been. / "Oh.**_ **Oh** _ **, is this one of those times where a lie would work better? In which case, the Sanctuary is definitely safe and we definitely don't need to worry about weird things happening or the rules of physics breaking on us." / The doll tilted her head, and with her next words Haru saw that the girl's lips didn't move. "I'm Katarina. Do you want to play hide and seek?" / "I still don't trust you," Baron said. Louise smiled. "I didn't ask you to. Now,**_ **run** **."** _ **/ "Twenty! Ready or not, here I come!"**_


	14. Episode 14: Sanctuary (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Louise and Toto (re)joining the Bureau, they set off to find the Sanctuary once more. But things have changed and the Sanctuary they find is not the one they left. Also on this case: optional interpretative dancing, uncanny valley dollhouses, and magically regenerating chairs.

_The Bureau Files: Series 5_

**ooOoo**

**Episode 14: Sanctuary (Part 1)**

"Well," Louise amended, "not exactly _found_ just yet, past tense." She paced the limitations of Haru's windowsill, swinging her parasol with an easy, almost hypnotic motion. "More like we're _going_ to find it, future tense. Probably. Maybe. If everything goes according to plan and, honestly, when does it not?"

She halted and threw them a grin.

In the ensuing silence, Haru slowly seated herself at her desk and set Baron atop it. She had the suspicion she wouldn't want to be standing for this conversation.

"Uh-huh," she said.

Toto muttered something that was lost in translation, but it didn't sound too encouraged by Louise's words.

"It was a rhetorical question, Toto," Louise replied. She snapped her parasol to a standstill, leaning against it with perfect poise and looked to the rest of the Bureau. "Now, I'm sure you have questions–"

Haru half raised a hand and gave it a little wave. "Yeah, um, how come I can understand you?"

Louise's spiel faltered, and she seemed to reappraise the Bureau before her. "Can you all understand me?"

Even in the varied languages, the affirmation was clear.

"But… you can't understand each other?" Louise continued.

The negative chorus almost surpassed the language barrier. Almost.

"Oh."

Toto said something in that twisting tongue that Haru guessed was perhaps his native Ozite language, to which Louise nodded.

"Well, yes, it _had_ occurred to me," she replied. "Still, we can't be doing with that." She clapped her hands and there was a popping sound, like changing pressure in Haru's ears. She blinked away the disorientation and was mildly relieved she'd been sitting at the time.

"There," Louise said. "Temporary translation magic for all. Well, as long as you all stay close to me, and I don't get too distracted, _and_ I don't burn through this magic before we find the Sanctuary, but other than that…"

"How do you have that ability?" Baron asked. "It should be beyond the likes of a Creation such as us, unless…" He tilted his head, realisation sinking in. " _Oh_. Of course. The Sanctuary's magic you still retain."

"Exactly," Louise chimed. "Good for human transformation, translation spells," she said, ticking them off her fingers, "and _maybe_ finding the original Sanctuary once more. Well, that's the logic Toto was working on when he tracked me down."

Haru glanced to Toto. He didn't say anything.

"Yeah, yeah, and how do ya plan on us _maybe_ finding the Sanctuary again?" Muta asked. "In case you've forgotten, it kinda shut itself down after kicking us all out, so even if we did rig yer up to a tracking crystal, it ain't as if any regular portal could – oh." He looked to Haru, and she took several belated seconds to figure out his train of thought.

"Oh," she echoed when her mind finally caught up. "Wait, I could do that?"

"I don't see why not," Louise said. "Toto tells me you were able to trigger a portal to Grace's world, and that was technically closed off."

"That was different," Baron said.

Louise looked at him; it was the first time she'd really focused on her fellow Creation since their last meeting, and finally she seemed to find what she was looking for. She smiled. "Hello, Humbert."

"Louise."

"It's good to finally see you again. You're looking more like yourself."

He didn't answer.

"Would you prefer it if I called you 'Baron' instead?" she offered, and Haru wasn't sure what was so uncanny about it until she realised it was the exact same way she pronounced his name. The vowels rose in a way that didn't fit with Louise's natural accent, shifting between Japanese and English intonation with harsh juxtaposition.

Louise spotted the way Baron froze, and she tried again. "Maybe _Baron_?" and now the word was gruffer around the edges. Muta's pronunciation, if not his full voice. "Or maybe you'd prefer _Baron_?" And again, the name clipped and slightly nasal. Toto.

"Stop it."

Louise blinked, as if surprised by Baron's curt response. "Sorry. You always seem to dislike being called 'Humbert' but it's what I – it's what the previous Louise, I suppose – always called you by. I was hoping a more familiar name would put you at ease–"

"It doesn't."

Toto spread a wing out between the two cat Creations, sparing a reprimanding glance to Louise before turning his attention to Baron. "Listen, I know this may not be from a source you want to hear, but she's right. Haru's portal magic is our best chance of finding the Sanctuary again."

"It's still not the same. Locating Grace's world only entailed following the path his distress call had taken; what you're suggesting would require Haru to disentangle between Louise's magic and the Sanctuary's, and then leap aimlessly into the void between worlds in a hope she'll be able to locate the Sanctuary before she loses her way back entirely–"

"I know."

"–and you think that is an acceptable risk?" Baron demanded.

"I…" And there, Toto hesitated. His expression was thin. Uncomfortable, but set. "We need the Sanctuary back. And…" he didn't meet their gaze, "Haru has become stronger since then."

"Only because Grace pushed her past her limits!" Baron snapped.

"And I advised against jumping blinding into his world," Toto snapped back, "but nobody listened and now, here we are. So, whether you like it or not, Haru's portal magic is stronger so maybe we should make use of that!"

"Uh, Birdbrain, yer almost sound like you agree with Grace's ideas."

"Of course I don't!" Toto retorted. "But what's done is done, and maybe…" and he forced himself to quieten, "maybe if we can find a way to make use of it, it won't have all been bad. I can't protect you, not enough, so we… we need the Sanctuary back. This is our chance. We need to take it before Louise burns through what's left of the Sanctuary's remnant magic." At that, he turned his gaze across the room. "Like she is now."

With a jolt, Haru realised that she'd lost track of Louise, and that the Creation had been inside her room now for a while without her notice. Louise scoffed at Toto's tone and continued to examine the books along Haru's shelves. "Sure, and which language would you like to attempt to carry this conversation on in once I withdraw the translation magic? Japanese? German? Italian? Maybe interpretative dance would be your language of choice."

"I still don't like this plan," Baron said.

"Well," Haru said, "it's just as well they're not asking permission from you then, isn't it?" She offered an apologetic smile his way. "Sorry, but this is my magic we're talking about, so you don't really get the last say on this."

"Haru, this is–"

"Reckless, untested, desperate, dangerous, hasty, rash…" she rattled off. She snorted. "Yeah, I know. Which makes it pretty much at home with all the plans you've come up with in your lifetime. And, let's be honest, this is more of a plan than we usually have."

Baron was silent for a moment. "You truly want to do this?"

"I think I can do it," she said. "At least," she clarified, "I could give it a try."

"Excellent!" Louise chimed and produced a tracking crystal that looked very much like the one Haru had kept in her bag. "Now, I've infused this with some of the magic I believe belongs to the Sanctuary–"

"When exactly did you–"

"–so all you need to do now is use it to find your way back."

Haru numbly took the crystal. "You make it sound so simple when you put it like that." Still, when she turned it over in her hands she could feel the magic. It called out to its greater half, what remained yearning to be reunited with its whole. And, with an instinctive twist of magic, she knew what had to be done.

She was on her feet before she had fully realised, snagging up her bag in the action. "We need to go back to the Sanctuary alley," she said. "That's where it used to be. That's our best chance of finding it again."

No one argued.

ooOoo

Haru Yoshioka stood before the old brick wall and reached out to where an archway had once been.

It was an unassuming wall, unremarkable and dull, with little to distinguish it from the rest of the alleyway. The bricks were smooth and rounded by age. Weeds grew in the cracks. Soot discoloured the edges. All in all, it looked like any other wall, and yet an archway to another world had once lingered there.

She weighed the tracking crystal in her hand. The Sanctuary's magic pulled stronger here.

"Yer sure you know what you're doing, Chicky?"

She grinned. "No. But, to be fair, my magic didn't exactly come with a manual. Still, this isn't entirely new territory…" She slipped her golden portal ring onto a finger and the wall seemed to shimmer. Not… not vanish, not _dissolve_ , but now she could see the portal scar where the Sanctuary had once linked between itself and the Human World. She reached out and it was almost too easy to find purchase in the scar.

It was faint, but resilient from many years' usage. She twisted her grip and it unravelled.

"Hold on tight," she whispered, and pulled them in.

The void was achingly familiar in a way that both soothed her bones and set her senses on fire; the sensation of lingering in the void between worlds alien to her. Then again, she so rarely drifted there for so long. Far off, hazy memories of that moment in the Sanctuary as it collapsed around her and the void cracked open before her…

A gloved hand curled around hers and held on tight.

She was brought back to the present.

Right.

Focus.

The Sanctuary.

She threw out her senses into the nothingness about her, anchored enough by Baron's grip to know she wasn't about to forget herself in this realm. Not while he was there. This corner of the void was where the Sanctuary had once entered into the Human World; somewhere there had to be a trace for her to follow.

Maybe.

Perhaps.

_There._

Identical to the magic trapped in the tracking crystal, faint, but there. There, and just enough for her to pull her companions through the void and to the edge of a world she could sense but not see. A barrier barred her way.

She tried to dig her nails into it, but they only slid off. It shifted beneath her grip, slippery – no, not slippery. Writhing. Like a cat slinking from a petting hand.

She almost smiled at the image.

Beside her, Baron was saying something – she could see his mouth moving – but no sound came. Still, she could guess the words. Guess the warning. The crackle over her skin was already beginning to sting, and her breaths were shallowing as she burned through her magic reserves. Mortals were not made for this realm.

She tore her hand out of Baron's grip and sank both hands into the world's edge. Her magic poured through her fingernails in a concentrated surge, and she felt the pressure prickle the cuticles. Wetness trickled down.

And then she was through and she was landing onto a familiar wood panel flooring she hadn't been sure she'd ever see again.

A breathless laugh escaped her and she let her legs give way, saved from hitting the ground only through Baron's quick intervention.

"Haru? Haru!"

"Told you I could do it," she wheezed. She leant heavily into his hold and waited for her heart to slow. "Look, I didn't even faint this time."

Baron didn't return the smile. She hadn't expected him to, but neither had she expected his gaze to turn accusingly to Louise and snap something at her.

Something in German.

Louise raised her hands defensively. "Sorry, but I just assumed that the Sanctuary would take back over, and I didn't want to use up any more magic than I needed–"

More German, fast and irritated.

"Look, those other times were _absolutely_ essential and–"

Toto chimed in with something Ozite.

"Pretty sure, but it isn't as if I can just–"

More German.

"Yes, I _know_ , I was just telling Toto – oh, this is ridiculous." Louise clicked her fingers and Haru's ears popped again. "That's better. Now you can all accuse me together. Everyone happy?" She didn't wait for an answer. "Great! Right, just a heads up, but I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to keep this going. After the Gist and Lady Elaine and fuelling the tracking crystal, I don't have that much residue Sanctuary magic left and this translation spell could give way any moment."

Finally sure she could stand without falling, Haru pushed herself fully to her feet, although she continued to keep a hand resting on Baron's arm. "Okay, but if this really is the Sanctuary, why isn't its translation magic working?"

Louise shrugged. "No idea, but it's surprising this world is even partway coherent after our last encounter with it."

There was a dubious pause as everyone recalled the on-the-verge-of-collapsing state they'd glimpsed the Sanctuary in before it closed itself off to prevent mass magic contamination.

"Right," Muta said eventually, "but we're here now without it breaking down on us, so it's safe, ain't it?"

Louise chuckled. "Oh, not even a little bit." She blinked at the expressions her comment received. "Oh. Oh, is this one of those times where a lie would work better? In which case, it is definitely safe and we definitely don't need to worry about weird things happening or the rules of physics breaking on us."

"That's a thing that could happen?" Haru demanded.

"…No?"

"The Sanctuary's magic hasn't leaked out into other worlds," Toto said, reining back in the conversation, "so maybe it's managed to find a way to stabilise itself over this last year. All its magic is still here. Well," he added, looking to Louise, "most of it."

"I only took a tiny chip off it!" Louise protested. "It regenerates ten times that amount in a day or so."

"It _did_ collapse after it returned your soul," Haru said.

"Well, that was more to do with the consciousness I took with me. Destabilised the entire thing. Left only enough to make the conscious decision to shut off the Sanctuary, and even that's long dissipated since." Louise clicked her tongue. "It doesn't look too bad for it though."

"So what do we do now?" Muta asked.

"We find the Sanctuary's centre," Toto said. "Whatever's going on, we should be able to find answers there."

"And is that a metaphorical centre or a literal one?" Haru asked. She pointed to the Bureau's door. "Because I'd guess the latter would probably be Toto's column."

Her companions considered this.

"A world's centre is usually less about geography and more about a symbolic heart," Baron said, "like in the instance where Grace's heart was his stone map, but…"

"It's simple enough it might just work," Toto finished.

Muta pulled open the double doors and groaned. "Yeah, no. It ain't gonna be that simple."

He moved aside, and the others looked out not out into the Sanctuary's courtyard, but into a mirrored replica of the Bureau's interior.

Haru tentatively reached out and jolted when her hand passed the threshold. She withdrew her hand and didn't try again. "I kinda thought it might have been a mirror," she muttered, looking sheepish.

"Sure, Chicky; a mirror except we ain't in it."

"Which is so much more ridiculous than the self-replicating Bureau," Haru retorted.

Louise tapped the crook of her parasol against a window, through which the courtyard was still visible.

"Maybe we should try the balcony doors," Baron suggested. "Toto?"

"Already on it."

Haru watched out of the corner of her eye as Louise purposefully paced across the Bureau and rounded on Baron's desk.

"Sorry, Baron; this door just opens up into the same imitation room," Toto called down.

"Naturally…"

Louise rocked the desk chair and then, with a decisive nod, began to drag it across the room. Haru opted against saying anything.

"Hey, uh…" Muta called over, "this probably ain't the opening you wanted, but, uh, there's a door in the mirror room. I dunno if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but it's there."

"Perhaps we should try exhausting our other options before heading further into this maze – Louise, wait, what are you–?!"

Louise threw the heavyset chair into the window and was greeted with a resounding, satisfying crack.

The chair came away in pieces.

"Darn it. Well, it was worth a try."

Baron rounded on Louise. "What are you doing?" he demanded.

She looked between the remains of the chair and the unblemished window, and then to Baron. "Is that a trick question?" She threw the splintered wood to one side and continued to pace. "Well, we're obviously not getting out that way–"

"That was my chair–"

"Oh, stop fussing, I'll buy you a new one." She spun on her heels to face Baron. "I don't actually have any money to my name, and as far as I'm aware, the Sanctuary's magic didn't gift me with any secret carpentry powers, so that might be a long way coming, but, mark my words, I will get you a new chair. Eventually. Perhaps." She spun back and made a beeline for the false Bureau doors.

Haru grabbed her arm. "Hey, no, you can't just walk through there."

Louise paused, a smattering of confusion passing her features. "Is there another option that I'm not seeing here? Because there's no other way to proceed, and I really don't want to just sit around here and wait for the Sanctuary to find new ways to malfunction…"

"Well, no, but…"

"We could always try talking to the Sanctuary," Muta suggested.

"No," Louise said, "the Sanctuary's not here anymore."

"What?"

"Oh, didn't I make it clear earlier?" Louise motioned to herself. "The personality you knew as the Sanctuary was destroyed when she returned my soul. I mean, after decades of keeping Louise imprisoned here and trying to save the good parts of her soul – both Louise and the Sanctuary's souls got… a little mixed up in the end result. Why did you think the Sanctuary took on Louise's form? So I'm afraid you'll find that that person is gone and what we are left here is nothing more than the simplest world Creation, made from nothing more than purpose and magic."

"So kind of like what we did with Grace," Haru said, her gaze unwittingly catching Baron's. "Removing his consciousness from the world."

"In a way," Louise said, "although that personality was removed wholesale, so his consciousness still remains – albeit trapped – while there's nothing left of the Sanctuary. Save for what remains in me," she added. Her eyes crinkled. "Oh, don't look so sad – the Sanctuary chose her fate in order to save you all. It was what she was created to be." She smiled. "And a little of her still remains in me. I guess that's why I'm kind of fond of you all, whatever you think of me. Some things cannot vanish, only find a new home."

She stood there, hands on hips, and surveyed the Bureau. "So… is everything good? Can we get on with this?"

"Uh…"

"I mean…"

"Well…"

"I don't hear a no," she chimed and stepped over the threshold.

There was a holding of breath from the onlookers, only released when the cat Creation turned back to face them. She looked over herself. "Hands… parasol… whiskers… Yep, I'm all here. Well? Are you coming or not?"

The Bureau exchanged glances. Toto was the first to hop through the opening. He ruffled his feathers uneasily as he passed over into the mirrored room, but other than that didn't seem affected by the new surroundings.

Emboldened, the rest warily filed through.

"And I thought we were the reckless ones," Haru muttered aside to Muta. She came to a halt midway through the room as a shiver rolled through her. There was a sensation in her bones that felt not unlike the motion of missing a step on stairs; it was something… uncanny. Something off, almost but not quite right…

"Something's amiss," Baron said. His gaze travelled across the room. "This… this isn't the Bureau."

"It's still the Sanctuary though," Toto said.

"It still doesn't change that something is wrong."

"Maybe it's just because it's mirrored."

"Hey, um, guys?" Haru leant towards the mantelpiece table. "Has… uh, has this clock face always been painted?"

"What?"

She tapped the clock and was met with a hollow sound. "The hands are just painted on. Look, it's not… It's just decoration."

Baron was by her side with a speed that worried her. It wasn't as if they'd encountered anything quantifiably dangerous yet, but still his protective air raised her unease. He brushed a hand over the unmoving hands, and then tapped it. That same hollow sound met them.

"It's wood," he said. He looked around and tested the china plates that decked the mantelpiece. "These too."

"Not these. Yer tea set is tin." Muta bent the rim of a teacup. "Cheap tin."

"Muta! Could people stop breaking things?"

"Why? It ain't like any of it's real. Yer said it yourself – this ain't the Bureau."

"We're not sure of that. Just… please, stop damaging the furniture. We're going to have enough things to deal with once we return things to normal without needing to buy a new tea set."

"You're going to need to anyway," Muta said. "This is seriously cheap tin. All right, I'm done with this uncanny valley popsicle stand. Everyone who wants to head back raise a paw, wing, hand, whatever. Great. Let's go."

There was a somewhat helpless silence as Muta strode back through the door, compounded by the unspoken mood that no one really wanted to stay, but neither were they sure what other options they had. Eventually, they followed Muta out into the first Bureau. Still that sense of _wrongness_ remained.

Muta collapsed down onto a sofa, and Haru sat down beside him. Her body ached, reminding her how far she had pushed herself in their arrival, and she brushed the dried blood crusting along her fingernails. She watched as Louise grabbed the armchair, billowing into it with a sweep of her dress and visibly causing Baron to misstep.

He faltered and then, disgruntled, took the farther desk chair as if that had been his first choice.

"So now what do we do?" Toto asked, settling into his usual place atop the interior balcony. "It would appear we're stuck."

"Chicky could always do that thing she did back in Grace's world. Ya know, how you travelled across it by opening portals? Maybe you could dump us in Sanctuary's centre or wherever we need to get to."

Haru made a face. "Grace intentionally loosened the interior fabric of the world to allow me to do that. I'm not sure I'm quite up to that level without help just yet."

"And Haru has already stretched her magic quite far enough today," Baron warned them. "She'll need to rest before she can open any more portals."

"Oh sure," she muttered. "And rest is what these kinds of cases are so well known for."

Louise abruptly spun in her seat to stare at Baron.

Baron stared back. "Yes, Louise…?"

"That chair's broken," she said.

"Excuse you…?"

"I threw that chair into the window and it shattered," she continued. "What is it doing in one piece?" She rose and marched not towards the desk, but to the sideboard, whereupon she deliberately knocked one of the teacups off the surface.

"Louise!"

It didn't break, but bounced with a thin metal sound and rolled to a halt by Haru's foot. Haru picked it up and was surprised by its lightness. "It's tin," she said. "Tin painted to look like china. And that means…"

"We're still stuck in the not-Bureau," Louise finished. "Yes, it would appear so. One that seems to reset to this default the moment we turn our backs onto it. This whole place is like a… a…"

"Dollhouse," Muta said.

"Yes. Exactly!" Louise paused and looked to Muta afresh. "What made you think of that?"

Mutely, Muta pointed to the figure standing in the open doorway.

It hadn't been there before. Not the doorway, nor the doll standing inside it, but now, there they stood. The latter was no taller than Haru's elbow, with childlike features painted on a biscuit porcelain face and clothed in a tattered, ruffled dress that belonged from a century back. A bonnet rested over chestnut curls and framed the face of a young girl.

But it was her eyes, her unblinking, glass eyes that set Haru's nerves racing.

"There you are," she chimed, and her voice reminded Haru of a pull-string doll. Clear cut enunciation but no warmth. "The Sanctuary tried to hide you, but I found you." She tilted her head, and with her next words Haru saw that the doll's lips didn't move. "I'm Katarina. Do you want to play hide and seek?"

Haru found she had risen to her feet in some form of survival instinct, all her experience with previous cases telling her to run. "Uh… Baron?" she said. She tried to keep her voice calm. Even. "Tell me you have an explanation for this."

"Do you want to play hide and seek?" the doll repeated. "I'll count to twenty."

Baron was now also on his feet and backing slowly away from the doll. "It appears…" he said, "that the Sanctuary has picked up a passenger."

" _How_?"

"At a guess… I'd say it found this soul drifting through the void."

"But you said the Sanctuary was closed off."

"It was made to save," he replied. "If it crossed a soul in need of help… that purpose might have overridden it. Momentarily. Just long enough to take the soul in."

"You're not hiding!" the doll admonished. "The game's no fun if you don't play. One…"

The Bureau exchanged glances.

"Two…"

"We should probably run, right?" Haru asked. "Before she gets to twenty."

"Yeah."

"Sounds good."

"Three…"

Haru turned to flee, and faltered when she saw the front wall was now lined in a dozen identical doors. "What the…?"

"Four…"

"No time to worry about it, Chicky!" A paw grabbed the back of her coat and hauled her through one of the doors. She twisted in Muta's grip just in time to see Toto follow them, shrinking to a normal crow size to fit through, with Baron and Louise on the verge of joining them when the door slammed shut and vanished.

Muta released Haru, and she sank down onto the tiled kitchen floor.

"Well," she said. "Shoot."

ooOoo

Baron slammed into the blank wall, momentum carrying him too fast to stop before he hit it.

A hand pulled him back to his feet, and he accepted it before he realised it was Louise's.

"Well, I'm guessing the game wouldn't be any fun if we all hid in the same place," she said. "Come on, let's try door number two."

"But the others…"

"Won't be helped if we get ourselves captured first." She offered him a wry smile and didn't release his hand. "Hey, at least if we stay together, you can be sure I'm not secretly backstabbing you or anything. That's got to count for something."

"Six…"

He glanced to their held hands and then to the door. "I still don't trust you."

She smiled. "I didn't ask you to. Now, _run_."

ooOoo

The kitchen was the same on-off kitchen that Haru had come to know in the Bureau. It tended to come and go whenever it was needed, the utensils varying according to the requirements of its occupants, but generally it kept the same shape. Haru might have mistaken it for just another iteration of the Bureau's kitchen, if only it didn't retain that uncanny valley dollhouse quality.

A bowl of wooden fruit – slightly too large and their paint too flat – rested on one of the surfaces. Carved knives sat in a drawer, their edges likelier to give splinters than cuts. No water ran from the taps.

Haru finished her inspection on the not-kitchen and leant over Muta's shoulder into the open fridge. It was also built from wood, the hinges clunky and the interior filled with more fake food. "So…" she began, "any idea what's going on?"

"We're gonna starve."

Haru elbowed him away from the fridge. "We're not gonna starve."

"Nah, we'll just die of thirst first."

"Could you take this seriously for, like, five minutes?"

"It's a Gist Creation."

Haru and Muta turned to Toto. He somehow looked smaller than usual, bunched up on the backing of a chair. His talons were leaving marks in the wood.

"A Gist?" Haru echoed. "Like the dinosaur?"

"Yes," Toto said. His words were slow, like he was having to pick his Japanese carefully. "Or it was, once upon a time."

"Let me guess; this is the kind of Gist that demonic haunted doll stories come from."

Muta scowled. "Yeah. This is what happens when a childhood toy becomes almost more than a Gist, then their kid grows up and they get stuffed in an attic for years – or a museum – and forgotten about. Geez, I hate these kinda Creations."

"It happens very rarely," Toto said, as if sensing Haru's imminent worry about her own childhood dolls, "and usually with older toys that were handmade. Mass-produced types normally stay as simple Gists. They disappear once their child stops believing in them."

"Yeah, but the ones that don't go cuckoo," Muta finished.

"They're Creations who have lost their purpose. They lose control."

"Great." Haru heaved a sigh and leant against the table. " _Great_. And now it's inside the Sanctuary and it's after us. We should've known finding the Sanctuary again wouldn't be so easy."

Laughter rattled through the kitchen.

" _Twenty! Ready or not, here I come!"_

Fear laced through the eyes of her companions. Haru jolted away from the table and almost froze in indecision. Maybe… maybe if she curled in tight on herself and threw out the contents, she could hide in one of the cupboards, but Muta…

She started to turn to him and was met once again with the experience of being hoisted by the scruff of her coat.

"Muta–"

He yanked open one of the larger upper cupboards joining the ceiling, and lifted her towards it. "Get in there."

"What about–"

"The kid's tiny, right? She won't even be able to reach up here, let alone look. You too, Birdbrain."

She clambered inside, more out of the lack of choice than anything else, and just about had enough space to twist around to face him. "And you? Muta? _Muta_!"

"Don't worry about me. That doll's, what, like three foot? Ain't any chance I'm getting myself killed by a kid." He turned and Haru was left to watch as he emptied out one of the lower cupboards, pulling out fake crockery and cutlery across the floor. Finally he reached the fridge, and dumped the shelves of inedible food as best he could into the now empty-cupboard, closing it, and then squeezing himself into the defunct fridge.

Laughter echoed through the room. Closer now.

Haru pulled the cupboard door shut and hugged Toto to her.

**ooOoo**

**Teaser:** _ **"Found you! You're out!" Katarina cried. She clapped her hands. And Muta vanished. "One down," she crooned, "four to go." She turned and skipped towards the kitchen door. "Come out, come out, wherever you are…" / Louise dropped the teacup. It shattered. China, once again."Oh, Toto," she whispered. "You idiot. You**_ **bloody** _**idiot." / "We can still stop this, we can–" Baron threw open the doors and finally stood on the Bureau's threshold. His sure step faltered. "–save… him…" / The distortion shifted, making way for the translucent image of a crow. Its form was faded, grey in the light, but the feathers moved heavily. And when it turned its eyes to them, they were dull. Carved.**_ **Stone** _ **.**_


	15. Episode 15: Sanctuary (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With a doll hitchhiker playing a deadly game of Hide and Seek, the Bureau must find a way to bring the Sanctuary back to itself before it lets the game have fatal consequences. But maybe the act of fixing the Sanctuary might be more dangerous than any hitchhiker. Also on this case: claustrophobic conversations, mandatory tea parties, and multiple conflicting plans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Last episode, folks! Thanks for sticking with me and this story, and enjoy!

_The Bureau Files: Series 5_

**ooOoo**

**Episode 15: Sanctuary (Part 2)**

The room Louise and Humbert found themselves in was one they had both come to know well in the year of Haru's absence.

" _Great_ ," Louise said. "Because _this_ doesn't bring up uncomfortable memories." She looked back to Humbert. "How are you managing?"

Humbert approached the dolls bed centring the room, running a hand across the patchwork quilt that smothered the wooden frame. It was an echo of Haru's childhood room, moulded carefully alongside the gentle tones of the Bureau; a joining of Haru's two contradicting lives.

And almost Haru's final resting place.

His hand clenched. He took a shuddering breath and, when he spoke, his words were hoarse. "We need to find a hiding place, before–"

" _Twenty! Ready or not, here I come!"_

Louise and Humbert exchanged glances.

"Under the bed?" Louise offered.

"Under the bed."

They rolled beneath the wooden frame, not enough room to do much more than lie flat and barely enough to breathe. The quilt fell back into place and they were dropped into monochromatic gloom.

In the confined space, Louise's chuckle echoed back at them. "Well, it's hardly the most inspired of hiding spots, but it'll have to do."

"If you have any better ideas, I'm all ears," he retorted.

She tilted her head towards him, her wide-brimmed hat falling back against the floor as she did so. "You still don't like me, do you?"

"I don't know you," he said.

"You don't know your clients when they first come to your door either, but that doesn't make any difference."

"Our clients don't usually share the face of the person who nearly killed Haru."

"Touché."

She turned her gaze upwards, letting the heavy silence wash over her.

Then:

"You could get to know me though."

"What?" This time it was his turn to look to her.

She met his gaze. "Like you said: you don't know me. I'm not the Louise from before, and I'm not the Sanctuary. I'm something… some _one_ new. You could get to know me. If you wanted." She hesitated. "If you gave me the chance."

"And why does it matter to you?"

"Because I'm alone, Humbert." She hesitated. "And because you might not know me, but I know you. All of you. The Sanctuary has watched over you for decades, and you're… the Bureau is the closest thing I have to friends." She offered a small, tired smile. "It's not much, I know, but I don't exactly have a broad experience when it comes to this sort of thing. I just… I don't want to have to fight against you every time we meet. I've done that. I'm finished."

She watched his expression.

"And I was hoping that, after everything, maybe you were starting to feel the same."

Silence.

"I don't know if I'll ever be able to consider you a friend," he murmured. "I don't know if I even want to. After everything you – Louise – put us through, after everything we are still going through…"

"I know. I get it."

"Just because the others have come to terms with it–"

"I know," she repeated. "Trust me, I get it."

His eyes focused on hers, eyes she had watched over decades in one form or another. Eyes that she knew better than her own recently-forged irises.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

ooOoo

The cupboard was small and cramped. Her knees were pushed up against her chin, her spine curved, her elbows clamped to her sides, and every breath she made curled around her, hot and close and _don't think about it don't think about it don't think-_

"Haru?" Toto's voice broke through the suffocating silence. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," she whispered. "Apart from, you know, the creepy doll hunting us down and the Sanctuary being broken and the fact that I can barely breathe in this cupboard, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

Toto muttered something Haru didn't understand. Louise's translation magic must have broken its hold when they were separated. She supposed they were just lucky that Toto's Japanese was better than Baron's – then again, he had lived longer before joining the Bureau. It was not wholly unsurprising he had picked up a few languages along the way.

"I am _fine_ ," she repeated, taking care to make her words clear and unmissable. "Am I enjoying being stuffed into a tiny dark cupboard that smells like the inside of a coffin and feels like one of my buried nightmares? Of course not. But between that and being found by the creepy little doll out to get us, I'll pick the coffin cupboard every time."

Several harried heartbeats passed.

"But… if you could distract me," she said, "that would be nice."

Toto made a sound that might have almost been amusement. "Okay then. Tell me what I've missed since I… while I was away."

 _We fell apart_ , Haru's mind supplied.

She pushed the thought away.

"Um, not… not much, really. More of the same. We stopped a fear-eating mask… Oh, Muta got possessed – briefly – by a ghost. Baron did something stupid." She hesitated and then added, quicker, "And we may have kissed." She was glad Toto couldn't see her blush in the darkness of the cupboard. "Baron and I."

"Oh." There was a pause. "Just for clarification, that wasn't the stupid thing, was it?"

"Uh, no."

"Good."

"He _did_ do the stupid thing pretty much immediately afterwards though."

Toto chuckled. "Naturally. Do I want to know what the stupid thing was?"

"Not really." Her breathing was slowing, the humour seeping into her bones and unspooling the tension. "Let's just say that apparently you make up a good 80% of his impulse control."

"As little as that?"

She laughed, and for a moment she was able to ignore the way the sound echoed tightly around her. When it died, the silence carried fewer edges. She could almost convince herself everything was back to the way it had been before Toto had left.

Almost.

"So, this kiss…" Toto began, "…was it one of those life or death things or…?"

"Um, no. No, it was just…" She brushed fingers over her lips. "It just kinda happened. We were dancing, and he dipped me, and we were so close, and we… uh, kissed…"

"Seriously?"

"Ye–"

" _Seriously_? Muta and I have been placing bets on this for _years_ , and then you go kiss while my back is turned?"

"I mean… wait, you were placing bets? Since when?" She hesitated. "Who won?"

"That depends. Who initiated it?"

She cast her mind back, her cheeks burning so hotly she was sure Toto could feel the heat radiating off them. "I think... it was me? I mean, I'm not sure, it kind of all happened in the moment…"

Toto cawed a laugh. "No wonder Muta didn't tell me. Thought he could wimp out on a bet, huh?"

"You bet on me?"

"I was right, wasn't I?" Toto sniggered, and added, "So, is it official?"

"What is?"

"You. Him. Can we all stop pretending we don't see the obvious between you two now?"

"I…" Haru's breath caught. "I don't know. He… The stupid thing he did afterwards complicated matters, and we'd only just resolved that when you turned up, but…" And her mind called back to that moment between her and Baron, the way he had looked at her like she was every star in the sky. "I think we may be done lying now." She smiled to herself. "Assuming we all get out of here in one piece, of course."

"Of course," Toto echoed.

ooOoo

"Do you have a plan?" Louise whispered. "Or are we just going to hide here until my entire body loses feeling?" She wiggled her feet. "I think my little toe has already given up the ghost, just so you know."

"What makes you think I have a plan?"

"Good point. To be honest, I was just being polite."

She felt, rather than saw, Humbert's raised eyebrow. "What does that mean?"

"It means I already have a plan in place, but I didn't want to steal your thunder if you already had some scheme in the works. And, to be perfectly fair, you _do_ usually like to pretend you have everything under control."

"I do not–"

"Are you _really_ going to lie to a being who possesses all the Sanctuary's memories? Because, trust me, I have a long list of times when you absolutely, empirically did not have a plan. Beyond 'not getting killed'," she was quick to add. "Seriously, remember who you're talking to."

Humbert's mouth snapped shut. She graciously waited for him to regain his train of thought.

"And what exactly is the plan you have in mind?" he eventually asked.

"I'll do better than that. I have two. You see, the problem with the Sanctuary right now is that it has no consciousness. No individual personality to enable it to decide who and how to help. It's allowing Katarina to hunt us down because it recognises it as a need she possesses – the fact that it'll harm us in the process is overridden by the fact that Katarina was here first and so it's better attuned to her desires."

"So…?"

" _So_ the answer is to give it a new consciousness. Of course, the soul in question would have to be a Creation themselves, possessing a similar purpose to the Sanctuary to ease the transition…"

She almost saw the pieces clicking into place. "You mean the Dragon? Can a normal Creation fill the void left behind in a world Creation? Isn't it…? Wouldn't there be differences? The magic levels alone would be enough to…"

Louise hesitated. "Yeah, usually it would be… it'd be too much. I mean, in theory, it's possible, but the… vastness of the world would overwhelm any ordinary Creation. It would wipe them clean. Devour them. Drown them."

"…But if you're telling me this plan, then you have something to counter it."

She gave him an appraising look. "Did you actually just credit me with the barest level of competence there?"

"I…"

"Because you'd be right. While I was also moseying around in Haru's room, I found _this_!"

There was a fumble of skirts, some cursing, and at least two painful cracks as her elbow caught the bedpost.

"Dammit, this looked so much better in my head – don't you dare laugh; if I'm being overdramatic, it's only because I've had you as a bad influence all this time – ah, here it is!" She swept out a very familiar vein of lapis lazuli.

"Is that…?"

"Grace's? Yes. Toto filled me in that case and I realised he'd be a perfect fit. Also, you _really_ need to find somewhere better to store these kinds of things than Haru's desk tidy. Just about anyone could take it – like me."

"Perfect fit?" Humbert echoed back. " _That's_ your big idea? Do you have _any_ idea what Grace did last time he was free?"

"Toto gave me a brief run-down of it, yes."

"He tried to kill us!"

"Actually, he only planned on killing one of you, and it was only to try to protect Toto and force the rest of you… okay, the remains of you… to grow stronger," Louise amended. She made a face. "I guess that doesn't really make it much better, but it was nothing personal, you understand; just him fulfilling his purpose."

"And now you want to let him run loose to run the Sanctuary?"

"Not alone, obviously; that'd be stupid," Louise argued back. "What kind of Creation do you take me for – on second thoughts, don't answer that. But I needed a world Creation to work alongside the Dragon to stop the Sanctuary from consuming her. And then Toto finds me and tells me about this world Creation that's made to protect and it's like it's been all but gift-wrapped. Okay, maybe it's not perfect, but it's the best chance we're going to get."

"But Grace–"

"Yes, I know his methods can be a little…"

"Fatal."

"…extreme," Louise finished, "but the Dragon should even it out. Think about it – both of them are two completely opposing methods. If the Dragon had her way, she'd wrap all of you up in cotton wool and never let you leave, while Grace would… okay, Grace would probably kill you all one day, but together… together they might just work as one functioning Sanctuary."

"Functioning?"

"It beats whatever state the Sanctuary's already in," Louise pointed out.

Humbert made a defeated noise in the back of his throat.

"Louise… how long have you been working on this plan? Because it sounds like you had this halfway worked out before Toto ever found you and appealed for your help."

Louise hesitated. She picked her words carefully.

"I've known – well, theorised – for a while that my Sanctuary magic could be used to backtrack a route to the Sanctuary," she murmured, "but until Toto told me of how Grace's magic had pushed Haru's portal magic to new levels, I didn't know how to get into the Sanctuary itself. I even… I had even theorised that my – that the returning of Louise's soul might have left the Sanctuary with a void that could only be filled with another soul."

"That's why you agreed to take the Dragon."

"It was one of the reasons, yes." She glanced to him. "I _did_ want to help her, too."

"But you knew it still wouldn't be enough."

"I was looking–"

"Why?"

She faltered.

"Why look?" Humbert pressed. "This wasn't your problem. You could have given us a tendril of the Sanctuary's magic and walked away. There was no reason you needed to find a solution for this."

She looked to him, and for the first time since their reunion, her features were twisted into unease. It knotted in her stomach and froze her veins. "Because I knew that eventually one of you would realise the same thing and come looking for me, and if there were no other soul to refill the Sanctuary, then you would… I would be expected to take that place."

There was a short, sharp breath from Humbert. "That would have worked?"

"Probably," she whispered. "Given that part of me was the Sanctuary to begin with, there is a chance I might even be able to keep most of my personality. But… I would be stuck there. Inside the Sanctuary again, looking out, and I… I've spent enough of my life in this place." The smile didn't reach her eyes. "Is it selfish that I wanted to be free?"

ooOoo

"So, Louise, huh?" Haru forced herself to focus on the words, and not the tinny way they echoed back at her. She took a breath. The air felt stale. "That's… I didn't see that one coming."

"We needed her," Toto said.

"To find the Sanctuary."

"Yes."

A pause. The air closed in around her.

"Is that why you left? To find Louise?"

She couldn't see Toto, but she felt him shift, eyes turning in her direction. "Her Sanctuary magic was the key to unlocking our path back here," he said. "If we can bring back the Sanctuary to what it once was…"

"Then Muta won't be danger of old age catching up to him just yet," Haru finished.

"It's not just him."

Haru silenced.

"I… It's all of you." Toto shook his head, reshuffling the thoughts. "I couldn't be enough by myself. I couldn't protect you alone. We… _I_ need the Sanctuary to do what I cannot."

"Toto, it's not… Whatever you think you've done wrong, it wasn't your fault."

Toto didn't answer.

"Toto–"

"It doesn't matter right now anyway. We need to return the Sanctuary back to normal first."

Haru stared at the inside of the crudely carved wooden cupboard. "And… how are we going to do that?" she asked.

"We need to get to the centre of the Sanctuary."

"And then we can fix whatever's gone kaput?"

"Then we can fix whatever's gone kaput," Toto answered.

A door clattered open and there was tap of porcelain feet prancing across the tiled floor.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," Katarina chimed. She gave that voice box laugh as she came to a halt. "Come out, come out… oh, look at all this _mess_. Naughty, naughty."

Against all her survival instincts, Haru creaked the cupboard door an inch open, enough to see Katarina standing before the crockery Muta had thrown out of the lower cupboards to make room for the fridge contents.

"I wonder where you could be hiding?" Katarina continued. "Could it be… _here_?"

She yanked open the lower cupboard and stilled as she revealed fake food and wooden shelves. The bonnet tilted. She closed the door and straightened. "Not here."

She slammed open each cupboard door as she passed, skipping right beneath Haru and Toto's hiding spot and not even glancing in their direction.

And then she reached the fridge.

"Oh where, oh where could they be?" she hummed.

Toto's talons sank into Haru's legs. Her own toes were curling in their boots, holding back every instinct to do something rash.

Katarina pulled open the fridge door.

"Found you!"

"Yeah, and now what, kid?"

"What do you think, silly? You're out!" she said.

She clapped.

And Muta vanished.

A scream rose into Haru's throat and she pressed both hands against her mouth to muffle it.

"One down," the Gist crooned, "four to go." She turned and skipped towards the kitchen door. "Come out, come out, wherever you are…"

ooOoo

Baron didn't answer. Louise's last question rattled in his mind; every time it bounced off another thought, another opinion rose to the forefront. He opened his mouth. He wasn't sure what he was about to say.

"Louise–"

A door slammed open and tiny china feet skipped across the carpet.

"Come out, come out, come out…"

Katarina's voice neared… and then passed by the bed. There was the sound of another door opening, closing, and then the room was silence once more.

A minute passed.

Two.

"Do you think she's gone?" Louise whispered.

"I really don't know anything more than you do," he said, trying not to sound too relieved that his answer had been cut short.

"It sounds like she's gone."

"If you want to stick your head out and get yourself caught, then be my guest."

"Fine," she retorted and, to his shock, she slid herself out from beneath the bed, leaving her hat behind as her head vanished beyond the quilt's reach. After a moment, in which she wasn't snatched up, she scooted back beside him. "Coast's clear. We do seem to have acquired two doors though. What?"

"Are you _trying_ to get yourself killed?"

She looked vaguely put-out by the question. "No more than you usually are. Come on, or do you want to live the rest of your life beneath that bed?" She didn't wait for an answer, just pulled herself back out into the open.

Baron followed suit. Louise was already gathering herself back up, smoothing down her dress and resetting her hat between her ears.

"That cannot be the most practical outfits to run in," he remarked.

"Says the cat in a morning suit," she retorted. She threw a smirk his way. "Your bowtie's crooked."

He grudgingly righted it. "So what is this about two new doors– ah. I see what you meant – wait, what do you think you're doing?"

Louise paused, hand already around one of the handles. "This is the door Katarina just left, so this'll be the safest direction to go in, right?"

"I… suppose…"

"And we do want to find the rest of the Bureau, right?"

"Yes…"

"So, this door it is. Unless you have any better ideas?"

Baron nodded his defeat. "No. No, it's as good an idea as any."

Louise beamed. "Don't worry; I'm doing my best not to get us killed. On we go then…"

She pulled the door open and they both froze.

ooOoo

"No… no, no, no…"

Toto's talons dug deeper into her skin, breaking Haru away from the panic engulfing her mind.

"Haru? Haru!"

"He can't… She can't have…"

"Haru, I know this is a lot to ask, but I need you to get us to the Sanctuary's centre."

She faltered. "What?"

"The Sanctuary's centre. I need you to take us there."

Through the sliver of light coming through the ajar door, she could see something had shifted in Toto's form. He felt heavier. His words were calm and quiet and dread pooled in Haru's stomach.

"I… I don't know," she said. "Back in Grace's world, he loosened the inner fabric of his world to let me travel–"

"The Sanctuary's internal fabric will still be fragile from its collapse," Toto said, "and you're stronger now. With only the two of us to transport, you can do it."

Still, she hesitated.

"I still can't be… It took a lot out of me to get us here. I don't know what kind of state I'll be once I get us – _if_ I get us there."

"You'll survive," and Toto's words weren't harsh. They were a promise. "And so will Baron if you can get us there in time."

"But what are we even going to–"

"I have a plan. All you need to do is get us there."

Katarina's laughter faded, now in pursuit of Louise or maybe Baron…

"Haru, _please_."

She exhaled.

"Okay."

ooOoo

"Muta?" Baron was the first to step through into the new room, surprise rendering him too shocked to play carefully. "What are you…? What are you doing here?"

The large white cat was seated at a dining table, an enlarged doll's jacket fitted to him – like that of a teddy bear, with a simple cut and rough edges – and was holding an empty cup in his paws.

He looked up at them, mildly bemused. "I seem to be having a tea party."

"I can see that. _Why_?"

Muta frowned. "I ain't particularly sure. The doll found me and the next thing I know, I'm sitting here like Little Miss Muffet with this ridiculous jacket on, and she comes skipping through that door – er, where the door _was_ …"

Both Baron and Louise glanced back. Sure enough, the door had vanished.

"Well, that's not good," Louise muttered.

"…and tells me to wait here while she finds everyone else." Muta shrugged. "The door disappeared as soon as she left it, so I opted against angering the Creation who seems to be bending the Creation to her will and decided to stay here. Ain't like I had much choice anyway." He gave the empty plates a disgruntled look. "She could've had the decency to wish up real cake though."

"Okay, well as fun as this looks, let's not hang around here." Louise took a paw and began to haul Muta back to his feet. She glanced back to Baron. "Humbert? A little help here, please?"

Baron didn't move. He stared at the fake tea set laid out before them, and then shifted his attention to Muta. "And she didn't harm you? You're sure about that?"

"Yeah, 'cept from feeling sick when she portalled me here, pretty sure. But I think that was more motion sickness than anything else. Why?"

Baron picked up the nearest tea cup. And then he began to laugh.

"Aw heck," Louise said. "He's lost it. He's finally cracked, and just when I'm not in the mood to appreciate it. Earth to Humbert, Earth to Humbert, Louise calling. Would you care to share the joke?"

ooOoo

The world was a blur when Haru dropped them by Toto's old column. The air that rustled the courtyard was as stale as that inside. The sky was starless.

She rolled onto her side and the coughing that overtook her consciousness as Toto slipped from her grasp. The world swam back into half-focus, and she saw the red speckling the stones before her. She licked her dry lips and tasted blood.

"Oh," she croaked. "That's not good."

She felt the cold touch of stone feathers as Toto passed a wing over her face.

"Rest, Haru. You've done enough."

She blinked, and the world beyond Toto cleared. She saw the stone pillar, and it took a hazy moment to realise the fuzz surrounding its peak wasn't a result of her overdone magic, but an actual haze.

"Toto," she croaked. "What is…?"

"It's the breach that the Sanctuary's soul left," he answered softly. "Empty all this time, the reason the Sanctuary hasn't been able to heal itself. The reason it has allowed a monster like Katarina to hurt one of our own. All it needs is a new soul to fill that void and everything will be better again."

Unease rippled through Haru's prone body. The way that Toto was talking… "Everything will be better?" she echoed. "That's funny; that's the kind of thing Baron usually says before he does something stupid."

Toto smiled. "Then I guess he's been a bad influence on me. Don't worry, Haru. Everything is going to be okay."

"Is it?" she wheezed. "Then why do you sound like you're saying goodbye? Toto? Toto, don't–"

ooOoo

Baron reined in the laughter, although his eyes still sparkled with mirth, and passed the teacup over to Louise. "We've got it all wrong. She's not trying to hurt us. She's just fulfilling her purpose. She's _playing_."

"But–"

"Yes, she's a bit uncanny, but has she actually done anything to hurt us? We just – we just assumed because that's the way it always goes. We meet a monster, it tries to kill us, sometimes it spices things up and frames it as a game." He held his hands out. "And sometimes it is just, honestly, a game." He chuckled. "Come on; let's find the others and sort things out before anyone does anything rash."

He turned to locate a door, and that was when magic popped in his ears.

Translation magic.

He smiled and looked back to Louise and Muta. "See? The Sanctuary is already beginning to fix itself. Things are looking up."

Louise dropped the teacup.

It shattered.

China, once again.

"Oh, Toto," she whispered. "You idiot. You _bloody_ idiot."

She pulled open the door that had reappeared and strode straight into the Bureau's front room. Only now it was the _real_ Bureau, all pretence at a dollhouse replica gone.

"This looks… normal," Muta said. "Good. It's 'bout time."

"Katarina's influence is fading," Louise muttered. "He's reverting it back to the way it was… Stupid, stupid fool. He knew I had a plan, if he'd only _waited_ –"

Baron grabbed Louise's arm. "Who is?" he demanded. " _What has he done?_ "

She looked to him. Her eyes were haunted. "Toto," she whispered. "He's joining the Sanctuary. He's becoming part of this world."

"But you said–"

"I know."

His eyes diluted. "No."

"Humbert–"

Baron ran towards the double doors. "He won't have joined instantly – take it from me and the Duke – we still have time before it overwhelms him. We can still stop this, we can–"

He threw open the doors and finally stood on the Bureau's threshold. His sure step faltered.

"–save… him…"

The courtyard was quiet and almost entirely empty. There was no rushing of wind, no light show on display; there was only silence and Haru and the still, familiar cobblestoned surroundings of the courtyard.

Haru looked back at them. She was knelt by the column, a shiver in her limbs present from either weakness or shock while her eyes were red-rimmed and tear-streaked. As Baron neared, he saw blood drying at the corners of her lips. "Baron," she rasped. "Toto, he… I don't…" She didn't understand what was happening, but she knew enough to know it was bad, and the distance between the two scared her. "He went into the… I couldn't stop him and he vanished…"

There was only the slightest distortion at the column's peak, but it was enough. It had to be.

"Hey, Chicky, ya don't look so good."

Haru gave a blunt chuckle that verged on the edge of a cough. "I'll survive," she wheezed. "Baron… please tell me you have a plan."

He nodded, his attention never leaving the column. "Louise. Hand me Grace's stone. Louise!"

"I…"

"You said that if another world Creation joined alongside–"

"It's not that simple!" Louise snapped. "If both joined at once, then yes, but Toto's in control now! There's no void to fill, not unless he relinquishes control – and that'll only happen if _he_ decides to! It's too late, Humbert." She gripped his shoulder. "I'm sorry, but this time we're too late. He's gone."

"No," Baron growled. "He's not."

"But–"

"Not yet. You may have watched him all those years, but you don't know him anywhere as well as you think you do if you think he's gone. The Toto I knew was too strong to vanish like this. There'll still be some of him left. Enough for me to reason with. There has to be." His gaze darkened. "I won't let this happen to him."

She met his gaze unflinching, and seemed to find the answer she was looking for. She nodded and handed over both Grace's stone and the Dragon's book. "You don't have much time. Use it well."

The ghost of a smile flickered into place. "Thank you."

"So what do we do?" Haru allowed Muta to help hoist her to her feet and bring them both to Baron's side.

"All we can do," he answered. "We talk." He tilted his head back towards the column's pinnacle. "Toto?" A hesitation before continuing. "Toto, are you there?"

The distortion shifted, making way for the translucent image of a crow. Its form was faded, grey in the light, but the feathers moved heavily. And when it turned its eyes to them, they were dull. Carved.

Stone.

"I'm here, Baron."

A sound escaped from Haru's lips; a pained, half-formed gasp. "T-Toto?"

"Hello, Haru." The beak moved slowly into the façade of a smile. "I said you would survive the portal."

"I didn't open the portal so you could sacrifice yourself like this!" she snapped.

"Yes. You did. You just weren't aware of it at the time."

"Toto, please," Baron said. "We have another way. You don't need to do this."

"Yes. I do." Stone eyes turned to him, but even in their granite depths, emotions swirled. "I know how to protect you, I just didn't have the power. Until now. You will never be harmed again."

"You can't be sure of that."

The gargoyle gave a harsh, embittered laugh.

"Maybe not, but I _am_ your best chance. Who else is there? Grace? The Dragon? Maybe Louise is right; maybe they _can_ balance one another out and function as the Sanctuary, but they will never know you the way I do. They will never be able to protect you the way I can."

"We don't want our best chance," Haru said. "We want you."

"No. No, you don't."

"To–"

"Alright, I've had it up to here with this." Bunching up her skirts, Louise stormed over. "You're an idiot, Toto. A bloody idiot! You can't take the whole Sanctuary – you're only a physical Creation. Doing this will destroy you!"

He looked to her.

"And?"

"And how is that going to help anyone?" she hissed.

He didn't respond.

"I get it – trust me, I get it," she continued. "I know what it's like to make mistakes you can't fix."

"I can–"

"But this isn't about fixing it – otherwise we would be using _my_ plan – this is about you and some… misguided desire for atonement. What? Do you think there's some finite limitation of suffering in the world? That if you suffer enough, it will somehow help the rest of us?" She barked a harsh, tired laugh. "The universe doesn't care about making things fair, or right, or _equal_. You want to make things better? Then it's a constant battle and you've got to keep going – you've got to _stay_ – to do that. You don't get to throw your life away in some grand self-sacrificing act and call it a day."

There was a long pause.

Then:

"I failed–"

"Yes. That's what people _do_."

Baron began to reach out to her. "Louise–"

"No!" she snapped. "If he wants to go down this route, then he's going down this route." She threw out her arms and glared up at the gargoyle. "So you made mistakes? So you failed your purpose? _So what?_ "

"You don't–" Toto began.

"I don't _what_? Understand?" She motioned sharply to herself. "Oh, you're right, how stupid of me. How could I ever know what it's like to have multiple lifetime's worth of mistakes haunting you or to be a Creation spinning through the eternity of existence with a defunct purpose? You want to talk about purpose? _Fine_. I don't even remember what Louise's was! She broke before she ever had a chance to discover it, and the Sanctuary's – the Sanctuary's I don't want! What does that make me? Am I broken?"

Toto was silent.

"You came to me for help," Louise continued. Her voice dropped. Quietened. "Maybe I am broken, or defunct, or whatever a Creation without purpose is, but you came to _me_ and I helped. Regardless of whatever I am, I am still capable of making a difference, of helping, and not because of some grand purpose my artisan installed into me, but because I want to."

"She's right," Muta grunted. Arms crossed, he glowered up at the stone crow. "We've all messed up. Or do ya think I'm proud that I couldn't stop Daichi from leaving Naoko, and only just getting Haru back from the Cat Kingdom that first time?"

"I got Hiromi involved," Haru said. "It was my unstable portal magic that dragged her into Oz and she nearly died because of it. Even after we fixed it, we still released loose Creation magic and... well, we all know how that went."

Baron met Toto's gaze. "You know my history, old friend. Even after all this time, I still find new and creative ways to make mistakes. Why are _your_ mistakes any worse than ours?"

Toto opened his beak.

Then faltered.

"The only difference between them is that one set of mistakes is yours," Baron said. "Why do you hold yourself up to an unattainable standard above the rest of us?"

"Because I…" Toto hesitated. "I know I can do better."

"And we can't?" Baron asked. His question was unaccusing. Gentle.

"No, I… I don't know. I just… I want you to be safe."

Muta snorted. "Is that all we are to you, yer birdbrain? Charges to keep safe?"

"No–"

"Then why do ya think that's all you are to us? Yer our friend first, and protector second and…" Muta scrunched up his nose, "who am I gonna fight with if yer not here?"

Toto gave a small laugh. "I suppose."

"Please, Toto," Haru said. "Come back to us."

He looked to her.

His eyes had cleared. "We don't know that Louise's plan will work."

"I don't care."

"It might make things worse."

"That's a risk we're willing to take," Baron said.

"I don't know what state I'll be in once I leave," Toto whispered.

"That's okay," Haru said. "We'll be here for you."

Heartbeats passed.

He nodded.

"Okay."

His form flickered, solidifying and then reverting back to its translucent state. He tried again, but his form was as faded as ever.

More so, in fact.

"I… I can't…" His body rippled, magic sparking along his granite feathers. Eyes shimmered between flesh and stone. "It won't… I'm stuck–"

"The merging is almost finished," Louise murmured.

"No." Baron stepped closer, and Haru saw a familiar anger lining his shoulders.

For the first time in a long while, it didn't scare her.

"No. Not when we're so close," he growled, and she felt him blaze through his magic as he changed heights, shifting tall enough to reach the column's peak. The gloved hand he reached out to Toto was wood. "Take my hand, Toto."

"But if you do–"

"I know the risks. And you're worth it."

Toto's form continued to flicker.

"Let me help you, Toto."

Stone eyes met stone, granite meeting gem, and finally Toto nodded.

"You better know what you're doing, Baron."

"I always do."

"Liar."

Toto dropped a wing down towards Baron, and the moment they made contact, Baron pulled Toto into his arms. The distortion sharpened, the lines of reality pulling taut like puppet strings or a spider's web between Toto and the Sanctuary's heart. The air became heavy with the burden of Creation magic – Baron's, Toto's, the Sanctuary's – colours rising and falling between them until suddenly it all

_snapped_

The Sanctuary's heart ripped open, a fresh wound tearing into place, and the world began to break again. A sound like a rushing, hungry wind rose from it.

"Replace him!" Louise was shouting. "Quickly!"

Baron fumbled a hand through a jacket pocket, his arms still filled with Toto, and managed to pull Grace's stone and the Dragon's book free. The throw he made wasn't perfect, but the newly made vacuum drew them in.

A wave of magic slammed through the air and Haru was thrown through the courtyard.

When she opened her eyes again, she managed to locate the rest of the Bureau. Muta was already picking himself up. Louise was relocating her hat. And, by the Bureau's doors, back to their normal Sanctuary sizes, still prone after being thrown, were–

"Baron! Toto!"

Her feet weren't ready to support her, but she didn't care. She stumbled across the courtyard and fell into the bundle of fur and feathers, fresh salty tears running tracks down her face. Toto dwarfed her and Baron now, and she sank into the sea of feathers as she slammed into Baron.

Toto gave a breathy cough. "Easy, Haru! Some of us are a little delicate right now."

"I don't care," she muttered into the feathers. "You'll survive."

Toto's cough turned into a wheezing laugh. "I suppose I deserve that."

"You do. Don't you _ever_ do something like that again."

"I'll do my best."

"That's all I'm asking for."

"Heya, birdbrain." Muta stood to the side, arms crossed. "Glad ter see yer made it back."

Haru twisted her head towards Muta. "Get over here, idiot."

"Oh, I'm not really a hugging– _oof_ , okay." He only grumbled a little bit as Haru pulled him into the shared embrace. "Just this once, ya know. I do have a reputation to keep."

"We all know you're a big softy, Muta."

"Why don't ya just go shout it out to the world, Chicky?"

Toto tilted his gaze and spotted Louise standing quietly to one side, her watching gaze filled with something that might have been wistfulness. He extended one wing out and gently swept her into the embrace.

"Oh. Oh, this is weird."

The words sent shivers down Haru's spine. The last time she'd heard that voice…

"Grace." Baron was quicker to the realisation, already starting to rise to his feet, but then faltering when the consequences of his magic overuse caught up with him.

The labyrinth world Creation stood on the cobbled ground before the column, turning his painted hands round. Eerie eyes flickered to the collapsed Bureau. "Oh, don't get up on my account, Baron. We're all friends here."

"Where's the…? Where's the Dragon?"

Grace smiled. "It's just me." His head tilted, as if listening to a far off melody. "My, my, you _have_ been busy since I last saw you. Miss Haru, your magic has certainly grown; I'm glad to see my assistance did not go to waste."

"I never–"

"Toto, you're looking better than our last meeting. I still maintain you need to truly fail before you can really begin to recover but… you've definitely taken steps in the right direction. Still a little stony in places though, I see."

Toto could only glower.

"I will admit I am… surprised you have all made it this far, alive if not… unharmed." He gave a smile that did not reach his eyes. "I'm sure I can work you into better shape before too long–" He began to motion towards them, but his arm froze mid-movement. His face shifted into something approaching bemusement. "Huh."

"No. No, we're not doing that."

A shadow curled around him, fiery orange eyes forming first and then a scaly body, wings, a tail…

The Dragon huffed and smoke curdled from her mouth. "What they need is rest, not more trials."

Grace withdrew his hand. "Oh. So you _are_ still here."

She smiled, baring fangs. "Don't sound so disappointed, otherwise I might think you didn't like me." The smile widened, but her eyes remained cold. "And that would be a terrible way to start this working relationship."

The two Creations stared at one another, two sides of the same coin, two sides of the Sanctuary, and Grace was the first one to bow out. "Fine," he said. " _Fine_ , wrap them up in cotton wool, if you like, but I'll be here when you need me. And you will."

There was a dubious moment's silence after Grace vanished.

Haru licked her lips nervously. "Well," she said. "That was suitably ominous. Dragon? Is it… Are you managing okay? You know, now being part of a world Creation and all?"

"I am…" and the Dragon narrowed her eyes as she considered the question, "going to take some time to get accustomed to this. This world is… large."

Muta snorted. "No duh."

"Some things feel familiar," she continued, ignoring Muta's comment. "The Sanctuary's purpose is… it fits. It makes sense. The rest… less so. I am here and I am… not here at the same time. Everything is different."

"Good different or bad different?" Toto asked.

"Just… different. Oh, and as for the Gist… she has been contained for the moment, until you decide what you wish to do with her."

"She never meant to harm us," Baron said. He caught his companions' curious looks. "She really was just a Creation made to play – and she kept to it. A little…"

"Gung-ho?" Muta supplied.

"Yes, but she wasn't trying to hurt any of us. Still," he considered, "we probably should have a little chat with her before we let her go on her merry way. Otherwise she may worry the folk she encounters."

"That's putting it mildly," Haru muttered. "Dragon, if your and Grace's souls have fixed the Sanctuary, is there any way you can now safely connect us back to the Human World? The way the Sanctuary used to be?"

The Dragon's gaze narrowed in concentration. "I think… I can. You may want to hold on to something though."

Everyone grabbed the nearest fixture without question.

The world rocked – no, it wasn't that. The point of gravity rocked, tilting on its axis, juddering and shaking and spinning – up was down and down was up – and then it slammed back into place with a force so heavy all breath was driven from their lungs.

"And somehow that's still smoother than some of Natoru's portals," Haru wheezed.

The intensified gravity lifted, and now Haru could smell something. It took her a moment to place it – it was something she took for granted so often in her everyday life, and yet she hadn't felt it since arriving at the altered Sanctuary.

It was fresh air.

She dropped her head back and, sure enough, where once there had been a wall, there was the open archway.

She smiled.

Home.

They were home.

ooOoo

"Things will be different now."

Haru leant against Baron as she leafed through the book. The Sanctuary sofa beneath her wasn't quite how she remembered it; the pattern was redder, the cushions more padded, and the arms were now softened beneath a thicker layer of fabric. But it was still the Sanctuary. It was the Sanctuary and she was once again able to just _be_ with him.

She tucked a hairclip into her page and tilted her head back until her eyes caught his. "Well, obviously," she said. "But what are you thinking of?"

So close. Their eyes were so close and she had missed this more than she could put into words.

His eyes crinkled and she could see he was thinking the same thing. "Grace and the Dragon," he said. "The Sanctuary." A pause. "What are _you_ thinking of?"

She closed the gap. A quick kiss.

"That."

"Ah, yes." He kissed her back. "That too."

How strange, she thought, that in all the magic and mystery of the last few years, she should fall in love with someone over cups of tea.

And a whole lot of running and monsters too, but mostly cups of tea.

**ooOoo**

**Inspired By:** _**The Librarians: And the Heart of Darkness.** _ **Directed by John Harrison. Written by Geoffrey Thorne.**

 _**Doctor Who: Night Terrors** _ **. Directed by Richard Clark. Written by Mark Gatiss. (An accidental happenstance, as in researching haunted dolls, I was reminded of this episode and realised I could borrow a few pieces. Notably the dollhouse features such as the painted clock and wooden decorations.)**

 **Also: Again, a huge thanks to TCRmommabear for helping me talk through this case and suggesting just** **what Toto needed to hear** **. And for just being so incredibly supportive and enthusiastic about Toto finally getting the character focus he deserves. (I'll no** **w let him rest, I promise.)**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: And that's a wrap, folks! Thank you all for sticking with this story for so long, especially since this has been a particularly harrowing series during a period when real life is quite stressful enough, and I really appreciate it. The Sanctuary/Lost Haru story arc of this series has been building up since at least Series 3 (or Series 2, if you consider that the arc of Series 2 was originally going to be the Louise/Duke Showdown until the White King arc took over) so naturally the culmination of it was going to be rather dark.
> 
> I do have plans for a series 6, if people are interested, and it should be lighter than this one - I mostly want to play around with the changed Sanctuary, Louise's return, and finally the steps forward that Haru and Baron's relationship has taken - but Series 5 could be a neat ending of sorts.
> 
> There will be a Behind the Scenes special of sorts, but that won't be up until the end of July, during the TCR Birthday Bash 2020, since it's going to be one of the prompts: Bloopers! (I figured after such a harrowing series, this story needed some light-hearted humour.) I'll also include the reviewer shoutouts in that update. 
> 
> In the meantime, I'll be posting a couple of my tumblr oneshots to fill the void, and the in August I'll be posting the first chapter of The Princess and the Thief, an AU that I think several of you have been waiting for for a while. 
> 
> Many thanks again, and please review/comment if you enjoyed this! 
> 
> Cat.


	16. EXTRA: Bloopers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An end-of-series-5 special, with bloopers! A collection of gaffes, mistakes, and pranks from the cast from the filming of this series. Part of the 2020 TCR Birthday Bash.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hello, and here are the promised BLOOPERS that I spoke of in the previous episode! This is part of the 2020 TCR Birthday Bash, with today's prompt being: Bloopers! (Fittingly.) Given how harrowing this series was, I felt like some light-hearted humour wouldn't go amiss.
> 
> A few notes: There's a fair bit of light-hearted swearing in this, so if swearing doesn't float your boat, this is your warning. Addtionally, only series 5 is bloopered (there's no way I could commit to the whole thing), and each case is marked up, to make it easier to follow.
> 
> With no further ado, please enjoy!
> 
> Cat.

**CASE 1: ONE OF OUR DINOSAURS IS MISSING**

**x**

Haru and Hiromi pass beneath the Torii gate to the komainu's shrine, pausing on the steps as Haru regards her friend's face. "Hiromi… are you... _blushing_?"

"Oh, shut up."

"My god, you're not blushing because of him, are you? I mean, I know he's smooth and all, but I was hoping that the great Hiromi could resist his charms. Trust me; he's awful at responding to confessions. Usually he ends up jumping off the nearest building. Worryingly so, actually. I think he might be allergic…"

Hiromi takes on a more flustered look. "Oh, shut up. I'm blushing for _you_ , you idiot! How on Earth am I meant to ask my best friend if she's a _furry_?"

"HIROMI!"

.

_click_

.

"In my defence, there's usually less of a height difference between me and Baron when we're in the Sanctuary," Haru says. "Or other worlds."

"Oh, great, so that just leaves solving the figurine and Naoko's eventual grand-kittens dilemma."

" _HIROMI_!"

.

_click_

.

Outside the Guertena Art Gallery, Haru edges to an alley's opening and peers out into the street. She drops her bag.

"Holy shit, we've just set a dinosaur loose in modern day Japan."

Off-screen, someone admonishes, "LANGUAGE, MISS HARU!"

.

_click_

.

Haru runs out from the forest to the lakeside, the dinosaur toy held high as the diplodocus ambles in pursuit. "Gotta go faster," she mutters and races into the lake. "Gotta go faster– holy _fuck_ that water's cold!"

"Miss Haru–"

"Give me a moment to acclimatise!" Haru hollers back. She takes a few tentative steps forward and freezes again as the water laps at her thighs. "Nope. No. Nada. Not happening. Holy fishcakes, what do they fill this lake with, _ice_?

"Seriously, Miss Haru, you need to move–"

"My goosebumps have goosebumps, give me a–"

Whatever Haru has to say is brought to a squeaky halt as a wave of water cascades over her.

Above, the diplodocus looks down sheepishly. "Sorry, Haru."

"Wetsuit!" Haru wheezes. "Get me a wetsuit!"

.

_click_

.

It is between takes. Crew busy themselves in along the shoreline, but further out Haru – now sporting a tastefully-hidden wetsuit – floats, spread-eagled, on the water. The dinosaur rests beside her, its huge legs reaching the lake's base without breaking a sweat. Haru sees the camera's running and waves. "Come on in! The water's lovely!" she cries, in the special tone reserved for the lie everyone tells after they've spent ten painstaking minutes inching into freezing water.

There is a gurgled _oof_ as the wave upsets her balance and she momentarily dips beneath the surface.

She reappears a second later and grabs the dinosaur's side to prevent a repeat.

"All good! I'm good!"

In the foreground, Toto can be seen to lean over to Baron.

"Dramatic, reckless, and a complete disregard for common sense?" he whispers. "You're perfect for each other."

**x**

**CASE 2: THE NEURAL HORIZON**

**x**

The lakeside scene has been traded in for a space station. Haru rises from the end result of a portal entrance and stares up at the panoramic view set before her – or to the green screen that currently occupies that area at the moment.

"Holy… Space," she says. "We're in space."

"It would appear so," Baron agrees.

" _Space_ ," Haru stresses again, gesturing to the flat green windows. "The final frontier."

"We heard ya the… wait, what was that?" Muta falters.

"These are voyages of the starship Enterprise," Haru continues. She poses grandly, one arm outstretched to the greenscreened heavens. "It's ongoing mission, to seek out new life…" She hesitates. "No? Really? _None_ of you get that reference?"

The rest of the Bureau share a lost look.

"Star Trek? Resistance is futile? Beam me up, Scotty? Live long and prosper?" She stares. "Wow, and I thought you guys had taste. Colour me disappointed."

.

_click_

.

The Bureau surveys the space station and the implications of the neuromod advertisement.

"Are ya saying that these things keep yer brain under check?" Muta asks. "Cause that doesn't sound like a horror movie _at all_."

"Actually, I was thinking more of a YA dystopian novel myself," Haru says, "but horror movie works too."

There's a notably unscripted battle-cry and a round of GLOO ammunition hits each of the Bureau and sticks them into place. Morgan in her orange space suit leaps out into the centre of the screen, GLOO gun raised in dramatic fashion. "Nobody move! Resistance is futile!"

Amid the cackling of the crew, Haru can be heard to cry, " _See_? See, someone gets it!"

Another round of harmless ammunition sails past Haru, converting a nearby table into goo.

"No talking! Resistance is futile! You will be assimilated!"

Off-screen, someone manages to find a speaker and shouts over the ensuing chaos, "Miss Yu, please may we stick to the script in future?"

"You give me a sci-fi glue-gun and don't expect me to have fun?" Morgan hollers back.

"I expect you to not drown us in copyright lawsuits, if that's okay with you."

"Spoilsport."

"Hello? Um, cam someone come give us a hand?" Haru gingerly waves with the one arm that isn't tied up in GLOO guck. The other is encased in the sticky mess – and most notably, so is Baron's arm. "Also, uh, Morgan, you might want to work on your aim in future."

From beneath a small mound of GLOO comes an undignified spluttering. "Ya _think_?"

.

_click_

.

Morgan drags Baron through the greenhouse door, leaving Haru to the telepath alien on the other side and hauling Baron back when he attempts to return.

"What are you doing?" Baron snarls.

"I'm saving your life and hers!" Morgan snaps back. "If you go back in there, the telepath might register you as a threat and then it'll force Haru to–" Morgan jolts as something smacks the greenhouse window "–attack. Do you want her to end up like… like… the body…" She trails off and her gaze focuses on the window. She begins to giggle.

Baron turns and jumps as he sees Haru pressing her face against the glass.

"Braaaaaains," Haru wheezes. She gurgles something indecipherable to the living and lurches to the side in a notably good classic zombie lurch. "Braaaaaaaains! Urrrrrgh, gurgle, growl…"

Baron laughs, and the floodgates open. Morgan collapses into breathless giggles, and soon even Haru's spontaneous zombie role breaks character as she joins in.

"Cut!" comes the off-stage cry. Then, in lower tones, "Children. I'm working with _children_."

**x**

**CASE 3: THE BUREAU'S HOLIDAY**

**x**

Hiromi and Naoko share the limelight, standing by a ringtoss attraction in the spirit festival while Hiromi tries to break the news of Haru and Baron's budding relationship to Naoko. "What I – what _we_ – were thinking," she fumbles, "was more along the lines of…" She sighs, makes a show of giving up, and says, "Fuck it. Naoko, there's something you need to know." She takes Naoko's shoulder in her hand and leans in. "I'm so sorry, but Haru… is pregnant with kittens."

The ring Naoko is throwing goes wide and smacks Toto out of the air.

There's a spluttering, indignant sound as the taiyaki Baron was finishing off gets caught in his throat and, further off, Muta guffaws at the state of both Creations.

And then…

"HIROMI!"

"Oh, no."

The video cuts just as a blur of Haru cannonballs into Hiromi.

.

_click_

.

Haru and Baron sit on the Lazy River ride together, midway through conversation when Haru suddenly sits up. "Hang on, the ex-Cat King had a name?"

"Of course," Baron replies. "Did you think he was simply called the Cat King?"

"I try not to think about him too much. So, what was his name?"

"Fluffy."

.

_click_

.

"So what was his name?"

"Sir Snowball the Third."

.

_click_

.

"So what was his name?"

"Batman."

.

_click_

.

"No, no, I've got this, I promise." Baron's assurance falls on ears already half-deafened by laughter. Somewhere off-stage, a director has his head in his hands. "Promise, I'll behave this time. Honest. Gentleman's honour." He crosses his heart in a manner that would be convincing if the past five minutes of terrible cat names hadn't plagued the recordings. "Haru and I have agreed that I shall no longer deviate from the script. Haven't we, Haru?"

Haru grins in a manner for which the word 'conspiringly' had been made for. "Yeah, sure. He won't say a single word he hasn't been approved on." She turns to Baron and attempts to hide the humour. "Hang on, the ex-Cat King had a name?"

"Of course. Did you think he was simply called the Cat King?"

"I try not to think about him too much. So, what was his name? Hit it, Hiromi!"

Off-camera, sudden music blares into life. Before Baron can even make a pretence at his lines, Haru rises to her feet – somewhat uneasily in the Lazy River boat – and sways more or less with the music. " _Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity! He's broken every human law, he breaks the law of gravity–_ "

The music grinds to the abrupt half of having someone slam the pause button.

Haru motions abruptly to Baron. "He didn't stray from the script!" she protests. "We did as you asked!"

The effect is somewhat ruined by Haru and Baron sharing a high-five.

**x**

**CASE 4: A LIBRARIAN AND HER KNIGHT**

**x**

Haru picks her way across the theatre prop room, reaching for the door.

"Are ya really sure that's a wise idea, Chicky?"

She gives Muta a _look_ before dramatically raising a hand to her brow. "Oh no," she deadpans, "it's a door. Quick. Run for your lives. It's too late for me, save yourseohfuck–"

Her elbow catches on the handle and it slides open. There are two dull thuds; the first being the door slamming into Alexa's face and the second is Haru slamming onto the floor.

Both are accompanied by a string of curses.

"Haru, are you okay?"

"Miss Alexa, do you need ice for that?"

"Door: one. Chicky: zero."

Haru begins to laugh, and she turns her face upwards to Alexa's. "Hey, Alexa, you missed."

.

_click_

.

Haru shuffles along the piano bench, taking a seat alongside a temporarily human-sized Baron. "My conclusion. Right." She fidgets. "Sorry. Yes. Sir Gawain is Rool de Shenry."

"Raoul de Chagny," Baron corrects.

"Roul de Shagne," Haru attempts.

"Ra-oul de Chagny."

"Raal de Chagnry."

"Ra-owl de Chag-ny."

"Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer."

There is an audible chorus of badly-suppressed snorts from behind the camera.

"I think," someone calls across the recording, "that we better find an alternative."

.

_click_

.

The set has changed to the underground lake beneath the theatre, where the Bureau, Cornelia and Lady Elaine, and Alexa are facing off against the Opera Ghost. The Opera Ghost's mask has been removed to reveal the Dragon's half-humanoid identity, and she glares out at the intruders.

"I was made for one purpose and one purpose only, and that was to keep the Lady Elain under my protection," she recites. "If you finish this story, she will be taken away from me and I will be left with no… with noth…"

The Dragon's face screws up into a funny expression.

"With nothi… ah… _ah_ …"

"Oh no," is heard, moments before the Dragon erupts into an ashy sneeze.

A bellow of smoke smothers the set, the camera picking up the occasionally worrying spot of fiery red and an onslaught of raised voices.

"Is everything okay? Did anyone get caught–?"

"Oh, my goodness, I am so sorry, I didn't mean–"

"Haru?"

"Baron?"

"Cornelia, are you unhurt?"

"Dragon…"

"Toto, there you are!"

"Is anyone gonna ask after me then, or is it every cat for himself?"

"–it's just all the dust down here–"

"Yes, I'm fine. Just hit my head ducking behind the wall."

"Dragon, your cloak–"

"You know, this wall isn't brick at all. It's just wood and paint…"

"–it's on fire–"

"Does anyone smell smoke?"

"DRAGON!"

"YES?"

"YOUR CLOAK IS ON FIRE!"

"OH, _SHI_ –"

.

_click_

.

The video resumes in the aftermath, several parts of the stage looking significantly more burnt than previously shown, and the cast and crew draped across it in various states of exhaustion.

"Edna Mode was right," Haru wheezes from atop the remains of a wall.

Baron, who is critically inspecting his greyer-than-before top hat, looks over at Haru. "How so?"

She raises a hand. "No capes!"

**x**

**CASE 5: WHAT CREATIONS ARE MADE OF**

**x**

The camera focuses on the SOS ball as it rolls erratically in Haru's palm, pulsing with an eerie glow that bathes the Bureau members in a sickly yellow pallor. "I bet that if we go back to the place where the message first came through, I might be able to find that tear and get us there."

"That sounds kinda dangerous, Chicky."

"So does a good 80% of our – whoop!"

The SOS ball rocks a hair too far and it slips from Haru's grasp. She yelps and snatches at it – and misses.

Glass shatters across the floor.

"Oh shit. That… that's just a prop, right? _Right_?"

.

_click_

.

The Bureau are in Grace's labyrinth, Haru still cackling after watching Muta walk into a wall, and the disappearing floor coming up close behind her.

"Haru, I don't want to alarm you, but you need to move," Baron warns her. "The floor–"

She blows a raspberry at him.

"Haru, please–"

"No. Nu-uh. I've had it up to here–" and she drunkenly gestures at should height "–with walking. Do you know how long I've been walking?"

"Haru–"

" _Forever_! That's how long I've been – gah!"

As she motions grandly at the expanse of 'forever,' her feet fumble in the imitation of tiredness – and then really do fumble on the tiled floor and she trips backwards. Her arms windmill frantically. She still goes down, vanishing into the abyss of the vanishing floor, screaming until they cut off with an abrupt flumph.

A thumb appears through the darkness.

"Just checking gravity's working!" A pause. "It is!"

The hand flounders in the air.

"Can… Can someone come help me off this net? I'm kinda stuck…"

.

_click_

.

Still in Grace's labyrinth, Haru and Baron have reunited after being separated. Haru's make-up is designed to create bags under her eyes and hollow her face into gaunt shadows, giving her the look of extreme exhaustion. Baron is carefully holding himself to give the impression of a half-wooden form.

Haru staggers to her feet, and sways.

"Haru? Haru!"

"M'fine," she mumbles. "Let's get outta here."

She pulls Baron to his feet, and he gestures to the button centring the room. On the walls around him, the painted frescoes begin to stir. "Haru, you have to push–" he begins.

"No, I don't," she dismisses, and she gestures in the air.

Off-stage, the magic department work their, well, their _magic_ , and a portal opens. The visuals switch to another camera just as Haru and Baron slip through the opening and–

"WATCH WHERE YER BLOODY OPENING THOSE THINGS!"

After several dubious moments, the camera shifts, falling on a tangle of limbs and tails and coats, the bottom layer of which is most definitely Muta.

Sprawled on top of him, Haru and Baron look shocked, but none the worse for wear.

"Well, what do you know?" Haru asks. "I think that was the most comfortable landing we've ever had."

"Yeah, yeah, you've had yer laugh. NOW GET OFF."

**x**

**CASE 6: QUEEN OF HEARTS**

**x**

The camera pans over the emotionless world in the midst of the coronation celebration, until it settles on Baron and Haru sitting together on a low wall. Haru's attention shifts to the musician beside Muta.

"Oh, please don't tell me he's teaching the locals modern music. I swear, we leave him alone for ten minutes…" She trails off.

"I know that song," Baron says.

"Yeah, so it's probably not anything from the last twenty years."

"I _do_ listen to contemporary music, Har…" Baron pauses, off-script. His eyes narrow. "That's… not _Katzen Blut_." His expression shifts further. "And when did they bring drums in?"

Haru winks and slides off the wall. "Since I bribed the band. Hiromi, mic!"

From off-screen, a microphone goes flying and Haru catches it with a flourish that hides a fumble. She spins back to him with a conspiring grin. "Baron Humbert von Gikkingen, I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling."

"Haru, we're already dating, so any love confession is a little late to the table."

"Gotta make you understand."

"Are those dance moves? You look like you've got sea legs."

Haru grabs Baron's lapel and pulls him up onto his feet. "Oh, stop spoiling the fun and go with it," she teases. Her grin widens and she lifts the microphone to her lips. "Cause I'm… _never gonna give you up. Never gonna let you down. Never gonna run around and desert you. Never–_ "

"CUT!" comes the cry from off-screen. "Someone _please_ revoke Haru's music privileges."

.

_click_

.

The video resumes, and the song in the background is most definitely Katzen Blut this time. As Haru and Baron dance, Haru's coat transforms into the illusion of a golden dress, and she falters. Awe colours her face as she brushes at the magic.

"Too much?" Baron asks.

Her expression turns to teasing admonishment. "Now that's just a waste of magic."

"If it makes you smile, it is no waste."

"Now you're definitely flirting," she mutters.

"That's not flirting. This is." He leans in and says, in an affected American accent, "How _you_ doin'?"

Haru snorts so hard she breaks away from the dance, wheezing as she grabs the low wall for support. " _Where_ did you get that line from?" she demands between gasps.

"Hiromi. She assured me you would recognise it, but I did not expect… Are you alright?"

Haru now has her head in her hands. Her laughter has mostly dissolved into hiccups. "Oh my god, I'm going to kill her one of these days."

.

_click_

.

_Katzen Blut_ plays in the background, significantly further through the scene this time around as Haru spins in Baron's hold. Her dress is a thing of sun and starlight, and to the camera it's as if galaxies swirl as she turns. The song lulls, the light fades, and Baron lowers Haru in a dip that brings them intimately close. The moments pass. A pin dropping would be deafening in the ensuing silence. The distance shortens, then vanishes entirely as Haru pulls Baron to her in a kiss.

When they break away, the silence is somehow louder still. Haru stares up into those emerald eyes, her breath rippling across his fur and–

"Fuck. I've forgotten my line."

**x**

**CASE 7: SANCTUARY**

**x**

Louise stands in the recently re-found Sanctuary, hands on hips while those around her speak in their own untranslated tongue. Toto speaks to her in Ozite, and she returns with, "Pretty sure, but it isn't as if I can just–"

Baron interrupts in irritated German, something sharp and demanding.

"Yes, I know," Louise snaps back. She clicks her fingers and the magic department release a trill of magic. "That's better. Now you can all accuse me together. Everyone happy? Great! Right, just a heads up, but I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to keep this going. After the Gist and Lady Elaine and… and…" Her face crumpled. "Dammit. Line!"

From off-screen, the prompter calls, "And fuelling the tracking crystal!"

"And fuelling the tracking crystal," Louise mutters. "Right. Okay." She clicks her fingers, and the magic department obliges. That's better. Now you can all accuse me together. Everyone happy? Great! Right, just a heads up, but I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to keep this going. After the Gist and Lady Elaine and… and… _shitbuggerfuck_ –"

A most scandalised Baron gasps. "LOUISE!"

.

_click_

.

"Let me help you, Toto," Baron whispers.

"You better know what you're doing."

"I always do."

"Liar."

The climax of the episode draws to a peak, as Baron pulls Toto from the Sanctuary's heart and in an outpouring of special effects and magic effects and after effects, there is a wave of magic and light as Toto is replaced with the Dragon and Grace. When the camera regains focus, it is of Haru as she spots the two Bureau Creations.

"Baron! Toto!"

She stumbles across the Sanctuary courtyard and collapses into the feathery heap that is Toto.

"Easy, Haru! Some of us are a little delicate right now–"

"BEARHUG!"

"Oh no," Toto mutters, just before Muta uses his girth to his advantage and sweeps them all up in his arms. "Muta… please…"

"Nah, you're gonna be hugged and yer gonna like it."

"I'd like to survive it first," Toto wheezes. He – and the rest of the Bureau – are dropped back into their original embrace. "Well, now if you've filled your shenanigans quota for the day–"

"CANONBALL!"

"…I just had to go and open my beak, didn't I…?"

The camera catches a blur of white fur, and then Louise is visibly leaping into the group.

There is a collective _oomph_ as several Bureau members are caught in the fallout. It dissolves into breathy laughter and they settle themselves into a less tangled mess.

"GROUP HUG!" cries Hiromi, and she arrives on scene, dragging several of the human cast – Naoko, and Michael – along behind her and into the embrace. More cast members – Cornelia and Lady Elaine and Morgan Yu and Grace and the Dragon and one foot that looks like it belongs to the dinosaur gist – pile in as the momentum builds up.

From beneath it all, comes a very muffled, "BREATHE! Let me _breathe_!"

.

_click_

.

The set is back to the Sanctuary. The proper Sanctuary. A few props have changed – the sofa has a new pattern, fresh cushions have been applied, and the vases in the background have been shifted around – but it's definitely the Sanctuary. The camera is fixed on Haru and Baron, sharing the sofa together with domestic comfort.

"Things will be different now," Baron says.

Haru pauses in her book to look to him. "Well, obviously. But what were you thinking of?"

He leans towards her. "Grace and the Dragon. The Sanctuary. What are you thinking of?"

She closes the gap. A quick kiss.

"That."

"Ah yes." He kisses her back. "That too."

"And that's a wra–"

"Wait!"

The off-screen voice falters. "What is it, Haru?"

"I don't think we got that kiss quite right. We probably should do it again." She looks to Baron. "What do you think?"

Baron grins back. "Oh, most definitely."

"I mean, this is the final kiss of the season."

"Indeed."

"It has to be perfect."

"I couldn't have put it better myself."

There is the sound of defeat. " _Fine_."

Then, quieter, but not quiet enough for the microphone to miss: "Flipping lovebirds."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Many thanks to my wonderful reviewers, especially if you have stuck with me from the beginning. Without you, TBF would never have got this far. So a huge shoutout to: Wolfie, Nanenna, Suzumehime, James Birdsong, Marshmallow Cloud, Midnight Redhead, WhisperOfWorlds, DiamondAndPearlStories, LilyTaurius04, RosaTrine, Amanda, Valentine Meikin, Trisomia, Ariza Luca, Fairyhaven13, L, atsuyuri_sama, Erufailon4, CactusNoir, slyphantomm, goldendoodle, FollowtheMoon, The_Q, SecondUNIT, Malachite14/All_Greenie, Athena, Golden_Pink, Jay Gill (gilafish), PandaBearofDragonMom, alapest, CoRvid, avenoirie (saemije), roolsilver, walkingthroughthegarden, Katty177, MA_reads, Cupid'sdoll, CosmicDizzy, and finally to each and every anon! Thank you. You keep us writers writing!
> 
> Cat.


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